SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic
Background Spread of SARS-CoV2 by aerosol is considered an important mode of transmission over distances >2 m, particularly indoors.Objectives We determined whether SARS-CoV2 could be detected in the air of enclosed/semi-enclosed public spaces.Methods and analysis Between March 2021 and Decem...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2023-07-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open Respiratory Research |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001574.full |
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| author | Prashant Kumar Kian Fan Chung Ian Adcock Pankaj K Bhavsar Hisham Abubakar-Waziri Gopinath Kalaiarasan Rebecca Wawman Faye Hobbs Claire Dilliway Fangxin Fang Christopher Pain Alexandra Porter Emma Ransome Vincent Savolainen |
| author_facet | Prashant Kumar Kian Fan Chung Ian Adcock Pankaj K Bhavsar Hisham Abubakar-Waziri Gopinath Kalaiarasan Rebecca Wawman Faye Hobbs Claire Dilliway Fangxin Fang Christopher Pain Alexandra Porter Emma Ransome Vincent Savolainen |
| author_sort | Prashant Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Spread of SARS-CoV2 by aerosol is considered an important mode of transmission over distances >2 m, particularly indoors.Objectives We determined whether SARS-CoV2 could be detected in the air of enclosed/semi-enclosed public spaces.Methods and analysis Between March 2021 and December 2021 during the easing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions after a period of lockdown, we used total suspended and size-segregated particulate matter (PM) samplers for the detection of SARS-CoV2 in hospitals wards and waiting areas, on public transport, in a university campus and in a primary school in West London.Results We collected 207 samples, of which 20 (9.7%) were positive for SARS-CoV2 using quantitative PCR. Positive samples were collected from hospital patient waiting areas, from hospital wards treating patients with COVID-19 using stationary samplers and from train carriages in London underground using personal samplers. Mean virus concentrations varied between 429 500 copies/m3 in the hospital emergency waiting area and the more frequent 164 000 copies/m3 found in other areas. There were more frequent positive samples from PM samplers in the PM2.5 fractions compared with PM10 and PM1. Culture on Vero cells of all collected samples gave negative results.Conclusion During a period of partial opening during the COVID-19 pandemic in London, we detected SARS-CoV2 RNA in the air of hospital waiting areas and wards and of London Underground train carriage. More research is needed to determine the transmission potential of SARS-CoV2 detected in the air. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cf71de2f57af410c972ca739e7fd31f5 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2052-4439 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open Respiratory Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-cf71de2f57af410c972ca739e7fd31f52025-08-20T02:57:56ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Respiratory Research2052-44392023-07-0110110.1136/bmjresp-2022-001574SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemicPrashant Kumar0Kian Fan Chung1Ian Adcock2Pankaj K Bhavsar3Hisham Abubakar-Waziri4Gopinath Kalaiarasan5Rebecca Wawman6Faye Hobbs7Claire Dilliway8Fangxin Fang9Christopher Pain10Alexandra Porter11Emma Ransome12Vincent Savolainen13Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Global Centre for Clean Air Research, Surrey, UKNational Heart and Lung Institute & Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Global Centre for Clean Air Research, Surrey, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKAirway Disease, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UKBackground Spread of SARS-CoV2 by aerosol is considered an important mode of transmission over distances >2 m, particularly indoors.Objectives We determined whether SARS-CoV2 could be detected in the air of enclosed/semi-enclosed public spaces.Methods and analysis Between March 2021 and December 2021 during the easing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions after a period of lockdown, we used total suspended and size-segregated particulate matter (PM) samplers for the detection of SARS-CoV2 in hospitals wards and waiting areas, on public transport, in a university campus and in a primary school in West London.Results We collected 207 samples, of which 20 (9.7%) were positive for SARS-CoV2 using quantitative PCR. Positive samples were collected from hospital patient waiting areas, from hospital wards treating patients with COVID-19 using stationary samplers and from train carriages in London underground using personal samplers. Mean virus concentrations varied between 429 500 copies/m3 in the hospital emergency waiting area and the more frequent 164 000 copies/m3 found in other areas. There were more frequent positive samples from PM samplers in the PM2.5 fractions compared with PM10 and PM1. Culture on Vero cells of all collected samples gave negative results.Conclusion During a period of partial opening during the COVID-19 pandemic in London, we detected SARS-CoV2 RNA in the air of hospital waiting areas and wards and of London Underground train carriage. More research is needed to determine the transmission potential of SARS-CoV2 detected in the air.https://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001574.full |
| spellingShingle | Prashant Kumar Kian Fan Chung Ian Adcock Pankaj K Bhavsar Hisham Abubakar-Waziri Gopinath Kalaiarasan Rebecca Wawman Faye Hobbs Claire Dilliway Fangxin Fang Christopher Pain Alexandra Porter Emma Ransome Vincent Savolainen SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic BMJ Open Respiratory Research |
| title | SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | SARS-CoV2 in public spaces in West London, UK during COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | sars cov2 in public spaces in west london uk during covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001574.full |
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