I expect to see more and more of this kind of article moving forward. Moving from “here’s the virus in buildings” to “here’s an approach for dealing with it. In this article, “Intermittent occupancy combined with ventilation: An efficient strategy for the reduction of airborne transmission indoors” the authors look at the combination of ventilation …
I missed blogging about this important preprint when it came out for some reason. “Viable SARS-CoV-2 in the air of a hospital room with COVID-19 patients“. I’ve talked in the past about how many of the environmental sampling studies come out are only looking at SARS-CoV-2 RNA and not viable virus. Here’s a nice …
Another article showing the value of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2. This group took weekly samples through the early days of the pandemic and on into the more recent stages and show how well that correlates with what’s known about outbreaks in the catchment area over that time. They again highlight the value of this …
Another chapter in the Diamond Princess story… you can read our last couple of journal club blog posts about the ship here and here. The latest article “Mechanistic Transmission Modeling of COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Demonstrates the Importance of Aerosol Transmission” expands this story by modeling the possible routes of transmission of …
So we’ve written a lot about wastewater monitoring as a tool for community-level surveillance for SARS-CoV-2. I thought this article was a nice twist on that… looking at airplanes and cruise ships as a way to better monitor the virus in a travel setting. Abstract below: Abstract Background Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for the severe acute …
Another useful preprint by Shelly Miller at CU Boulder and colleagues. In this case, “Implementing a Negative Pressure Isolation Space within a Skilled Nursing Facility to Control SARS-CoV-2 Transmission” is exactly what the title says. A demonstration of modifying an existing HVAC system to control the flow of air in a high risk environment. Good …
(h/t to Heather Bischel for the link) Yet another really nice and comprehensive review of the state of things regarding wastewater sampling for SARS-CoV-2. “Detection and Survival of SARS-coronavirus in Human Stool, Urine, Wastewater and Sludge“. This paper does a particularly nice job of looking at the following three questions: 1)What is the evidence for …
This one from our collaborators at the University of Oregon, “Identification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Healthcare Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Units“. In this work they swabbed a bunch of locations on various air handlers in a healthcare setting and looked for SARS-CoV-2… finding it in about 25% of swabs. Most potentially worrying is the …
This is less of an article than an announcement of a global collaboration and website for wastewater sampling for SARS-CoV-2. “Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Global Collaborative to Maximize Contributions in the Fight Against COVID-19“. This is a non peer-reviewed opinion piece that summarizes the current state of knowledge on wastewater testing for SARS-CoV-2 and describes their COVID-19 …
(h/t to Jonathan Eisen for the original article) Virtually all the discussion these days is about aerosol/airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and probably rightly so… there’s a lot of evidence that these are the primary routes of transmission. But as a recent Medscape article admonishes; “Don’t Forget the Fomites as Face-to-Face Care Ramps Up“. It’s still …
