key: cord-0696955-fez60jyn
authors: Colaneri, Marta; Seminari, Elena; Piralla, Antonio; Zuccaro, Valentina; Filippo, Alessandro Di; Baldanti, Fausto; Bruno, Raffaele; Mondelli, Mario U.; Brunetti, Enrico; Di Matteo, Angela; Maiocchi, Laura; Pagnucco, Layla; Mariani, Bianca; Ludovisi, Serena; Lissandrin, Raffaella; Parisi, Aldo; Sacchi, Paolo; Patruno, Savino FA.; Michelone, Giuseppe; Gulminetti, Roberto; Zanaboni, Domenico; Novati, Stefano; Maserati, Renato; Orsolini, Paolo; Vecchia, Marco; Sciarra, Marco; Asperges, Erika; Di Filippo, Alessandro; Sambo, Margherita; Biscarini, Simona; Lupi, Matteo; Roda, Silvia; Pieri, Teresa Chiara; Gallazzi, Ilaria; Sachs, Michele; Valsecchi, Pietro; Perlini, Stefano; Alfano, Claudia; Bonzano, Marco; Briganti, Federica; Crescenzi, Giuseppe; Falchi, Anna Giulia; Guarnone, Roberta; Guglielmana, Barbara; Maggi, Elena; Martino, Ilaria; Pettenazza, Pietro; Pioli di Marco, Serena; Quaglia, Federica; Sabena, Anna; Salinaro, Francesco; Speciale, Francesco; Zunino, Ilaria; De Lorenzo, Marzia; Secco, Gianmarco; Dimitry, Lorenzo; Cappa, Giovanni; Maisak, Igor; Chiodi, Benedetta; Sciarrini, Massimiliano; Barcella, Bruno; Resta, Flavia; Moroni, Luca; Vezzoni, Giulia; Scattaglia, Lorenzo; Boscolo, Elisa; Zattera, Caterina; Fidel, Tassi Michele; Vincenzo, Capozza; Vignaroli, Damiano; Bazzini, Marco; Iotti, Giorgio; Mojoli, Francesco; Belliato, Mirko; Perotti, Luciano; Mongodi, Silvia; Tavazzi, Guido; Marseglia, Gianluigi; Licari, Amelia; Brambilla, Ilaria; Daniela, Barbarini; Antonella, Bruno; Patrizia, Cambieri; Giulia, Campanini; Giuditta, Comolli; Marta, Corbella; Rossana, Daturi; Milena, Furione; Bianca, Mariani; Roberta, Maserati; Enza, Monzillo; Stefania, Paolucci; Maurizio, Parea; Elena, Percivalle; Antonio, Piralla; Francesca, Rovida; Antonella, Sarasini; Maurizio, Zavattoni; Guy, Adzasehoun; Laura, Bellotti; Ermanna, Cabano; Giuliana, Casali; Luca, Dossena; Gabriella, Frisco; Gabriella, Garbagnoli; Alessia, Girello; Viviana, Landini; Claudia, Lucchelli; Valentina, Maliardi; Simona, Pezzaia; Marta, Premoli; Alice, Bonetti; Giacomo, Caneva; Irene, Cassaniti; Alfonso, Corcione; Raffella, Di Martino; Annapia, Di Napoli; Alessandro, Ferrari; Guglielmo, Ferrari; Loretta, Fiorina; Federica, Giardina; Alessandra, Mercato; Federica, Novazzi; Giacomo, Ratano; Beatrice, Rossi; Maria, Sciabica Irene; Monica, Tallarita; Edoardo, Vecchio Nepita; Calvi, Monica; Tizzoni, Michela; Nicora, Carlo; Triarico, Antonio; Petronella, Vincenzo; Marena, Carlo; Muzzi, Alba; Lago, Paolo; Comandatore, Francesco; Bissignandi, Gherard; Gaiarsa, Stefano; Rettani, Marco; Bandi, Claudio
title: Lack of SARS-CoV-2 RNA environmental contamination in a tertiary referral hospital for infectious diseases in Northern Italy.
date: 2020-03-19
journal: J Hosp Infect
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2020.03.018
sha: a298f01a4d50bb9171da5283aa81d3f01b32451d
doc_id: 696955
cord_uid: fez60jyn

nan

The World Health Organization defined Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a betacoronavirus belonging to the same subgenus as the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) spread in a similar fashion as Rhinoviruses, by direct contact with infected secretions or large aerosol droplets [1] . Health care workers are at increased risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection, possibly due to direct contact with the patients. Indeed, transmission of HCoVs through environmental contamination has been reported in healthcare settings [2] . Understanding which are the potentially contaminated surfaces in a healthcare environment is crucial to protect healthcare workers from this virus showing an unprecedented exponential trend with a doubling time of 3.6-4.1 days [3] . In this regard, studies suggest that surfaces and suspensions can carry HCoVs, increasing the risk of contact transmission that could lead to hospital acquired HCoVs infections [4, 5] Since February 21, 2020, when the first autochthonous case in Italy was confirmed, an overwhelming number of SARS-CoV-2 infections is continuously being detected, exceeding 8,000 cases at the time of writing. Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, is a 1,300-bed tertiary teaching hospital in Northern Italy and a national SARS-CoV-2 referral center. The hospital houses 23 ICU beds and 44 Infectious Diseases (ID) beds, the latter being distributed in two floors.

In the ID ward, each room has a buffer zone to allow safe donning and disposal of PPE.

Healthcare workers involved in the direct care of patients use the following PPE: liquid-repelling gowns, double gloves, a class 2 filtering face-piece respirator (FFP2) and eye protection (goggles or face shield). Cleaning procedures have been standardized [7], in particular ward surfaces are cleaned with sodium hypochloride at the concentration of 1,000 ppM of free chlorine (0.1%) daily and 5,000 ppM of free chlorine (0.5%) in terminal sanitization.

From February 21 to 29, 580 cases of SARS-CoV-2 were identified by the Virology laboratory, and those with interstitial pneumonia were admitted. Samples were collected on 28 th February; by that day 100% of admitted patients were COVID-19 positive with pneumonia, and were treated with C-PAP or high flux oxygen.

Surfaces in areas considered virus free were swabbed to search for COVID-19 RNA. Table 1 indicates which surfaces and objects were subjected to swabbing and Fig. 1 

Stability and inactivation of SARS coronavirus

Environmental Contamination and Viral Shedding in MERS Patients during MERS-CoV Outbreak in South Korea

Early phylogenetic estimate of the effective reproduction number of SARS-CoV-2

Survival of human coronaviruses 229E and OC43 in suspension and after drying on surfaces: A possible source of hospital-acquired infections

Human coronavirus 229E remains infectious on common touch surface materials

Transmission of SARS and MERS coronaviruses and influenza virus in healthcare settings: the possible role of dry surface contamination

We thank nurses for collaboration.