Med Lav . Assessment of air and surfaces contamination in a COVID-19 non-Intensive Care Unit

[tetano]

Med Lav


. 2020 Oct 31;111(5):372-378.
doi: 10.23749/mdl.v111i5.9991.
Assessment of air and surfaces contamination in a COVID-19 non-Intensive Care Unit


Michael Declementi ¹ , Alessandro Godono ² , Ihab Mansour ³ , Nicol? Milanesio ⁴ , Giacomo Garzaro ⁵ , Marco Clari ⁶ , Luca Fedele ⁷ , Valter Passini ⁸ , Carmela Bongiorno ⁹ , Enrico Pira ¹⁰



Affiliations

• PMID: 33124608
• DOI: 10.23749/mdl.v111i5.9991

Abstract

Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus - 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus, primarily transmitted through droplets, able to persist on different surfaces and in the air for several hours. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Care Workers should be considered a high risk profession. Beside social distancing rules and the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment, sanitization measures and ventilation system disinfection are essential to reduce viral transmission.
Objectives: This is the first Italian study aiming to assess the magnitude of environmental contamination in a COVID-19 non-Intensive Care Unit.
Methods: In addition to ordinary cleaning procedures, surface and air samplings have been performed before and after the application of two different sanitization devices. Samples have been analyzed with Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction in order to find viral RNA.
Results: All samples obtained from surfaces and air before and after extra-ordinary sanitization procedures turned out negative for viral detection.
Discussion: These findings highlight the efficiency of ordinary cleaning procedures in guaranteeing a safer workplace. The adoption of additional sanitization protocols should be considered in order to further reduce environmental viral contamination.