Widespread contamination of SARS‐CoV-2 on highly touched surfaces in Brazil during the second wave of the COVID ‐19 pandemic

Silva, S. J. R. et al. (2021) Widespread contamination of SARS‐CoV-2 on highly touched surfaces in Brazil during the second wave of the COVID ‐19 pandemic. Environmental Microbiology, 23(12), pp. 7382-7395. (doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15855) (PMID:34863010)

Abstract

Although SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination has been investigated in health care settings, little is known about the SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination in public urban areas, particularly in tropical countries. Here, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on high-touch surfaces in a large city in Brazil, one the most affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world. A total of 400 surface samples were collected in February 2021 in the City of Recife, Northeastern Brazil. A total of 97 samples (24.2%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR using the CDC-USA protocol. All the collection sites, except one (18/19, 94.7%) had at least one environmental surface sample contaminated. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was higher in public transport terminals (47/84, 55.9%), followed by health care units (26/84, 30.9%), beach areas (4/21, 19.0%), public parks (14/105, 13.3%), supply center (2/21, 9.5%), and public markets (4/85, 4.7%). Toilets, ATMs, handrails, playground, and outdoor gym were identified as fomites with the highest rates of SARS-CoV-2 detection. Taken together, our data provide a real-world picture of SARS-CoV-2 dispersion in highly populated tropical areas and identified critical control points that need to be targeted to break SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The work in Dr. Pena’s lab is funded by the Fiocruz Inova Program, IDRC Canada and the Foundation for Science and Technology of Pernambuco – FACEPE, Brazil (grant number APQ-0560-2.12/19). S.J.R.d.S. is supported by a PhD fellowship sponsored by the Foundation for Science and Technology of Pernambuco (FACEPE), reference number IBPG-1321-2.12/18. A.K. is funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12014/8).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kohl, Professor Alain
• Authors: Silva, S. J. R., Nascimento, J. C. F., Santos Reis, W. P. M., Silva, C. T. A., Silva, P. G., Mendes, R. P. G., Mendonça, A. A., Santos, B. N. R., Magalhães, J. J. F., Kohl, A., and Pena, L.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: Environmental Microbiology
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1462-2912
• ISSN (Online): 1462-2920
• Published Online: 04 December 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Environmental Microbiology 23(12): 7382-7395
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
65655	1	Arbovirus interactions with arthropod hosts	Alain Kohl	Medical Research Council (MRC)	MC_UU_12014/8	MVLS III - CENTRE FOR VIRUS RESEARCH