Preprint - SARS-Cov-2 RNA Found on Particulate Matter of Bergamo in Northern Italy: First Preliminary Evidence

[Treyfish]

Scientists in Italy find coronavirus on air pollution particles

In preliminary study, researchers detect distinct virus genes on airborne pollutants, suggesting disease could travel farther by air than previously assumed

By TOI STAFF
Today, 4:06 am

In a preliminary study, scientists in Italy detected the coronavirus on particles of air pollution.

It is still unclear whether the virus is viable or able to cause infections when carried by pollution, according to The Guardian, which first publicized the findings on Friday.

The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but previous studies and experts suggest the premise could be valid, and should be researched further.....
If true, the virus could travel farther by air than previously assumed. It could also explain the high rate of infection in heavily polluted northern Italy.

The research team detected a distinct COVID-19 gene on air pollution samples taken from an urban site, and an industrial site, in Bergamo province, near Milan.The finding was backed up by a testing procedure at a separate, independent laboratory.

Other research has showed that air pollution can carry microb...https://www.timesofisrael.com/scient...ion-particles/

[sharon sanders]

SARS-Cov-2 RNA Found on Particulate Matter of Bergamo in Northern Italy: First Preliminary Evidence

Leonardo Setti, Fabrizio Passarini, Gianluigi De Gennaro, Pierluigi Baribieri, Maria Grazia Perrone, Massimo Borelli, Jolanda Palmisani , Alessia Di Gilio, Valentina Torboli, Alberto Pallavicini, Mau rizio Ruscio, PRISCO PISCITELLI, Alessandro Miani
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.15.20065995
This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

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Abstract


In previous communications, we have hypothesized the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 virus could be present on particulate matter (PM) during the spreading of the infection, consistently with evidence already available for other viruses. Here, we present the first results of the analyses that we have performed on 34 PM10 samples of outdoor/airborne PM10 from an industrial site of Bergamo Province, collected with two different air samplers over a continuous 3-weeks period, from February 21st to March 13th. We can confirm to have reasonably demonstrated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA by detecting highly specific RtDR gene on 8 filters in two parallel PCR analyses. This is the first preliminary evidence that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be present on outdoor particulate matter, thus suggesting that, in conditions of atmospheric stability and high concentrations of PM, SARS-CoV-2 could create clusters with outdoor PM and, by reducing their diffusion coefficient, enhance the persistence of the virus in the atmosphere.

Further confirmations of this preliminary evidence are ongoing, and should include real-time assessment about the vitality of the SARS-CoV-2 as well as its virulence when adsorbed on particulate matter. At the present, no assumptions can be made concerning the correlation between the presence of the virus on PM and COVID-19 outbreak progression. Other issues to be specifically addressed are the average concentrations of PM eventually required for a potential boost effect of the contagion (in case it is confirmed that PM might act as a carrier for the viral droplet nuclei), or even the theoretic possibility of immunization consequent to minimal dose exposures at lower thresholds of PM.


https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1....15.20065995v2