SARS-CoV-2 was detected in a minority of environmental samples in an examination room where asymptomatic patients underwent a regimen hearing test, found a small examination in Turkey.
Of the seven samples taken after the examinations of patients who passed the COVID-19 triage questions, two samples of seven, one from the respiratory coverage of the slit lamp and one from the foropter, analyzed for SARS-CoV-2, has told Hasan Aytoan, MDArray of the Izmir Tepecik Research and Training Hospital in Turkey, and his Array colleagues writing in JAMA Ophthalmology.
However, the authors measured only the detectable virus and were unable to do so if it was an infectious virus, they noted.
They tested two study threads to conduct their study: the lifespan of the virus on surfaces, such as the role of asymptomatic transmission through observation of a day of examination in an outpatient ophthalmology clinic “without interventions for asymptomatic patients”.
“Since we were examining asymptomatic patients in the pandemic, we sought to see if we could stumble upon coVID-19 viral curtains at the end of a day of tests of asymptomatic patients observed in an eye exam room,” they wrote.
The room was cleaned with a hydrogen peroxide solution and received no visits for 18 hours after cleaning. Most importantly, the authors noticed that the component was not cleaned between patients, but that the chin and forehead supports were cleaned with 70% isopropyl alcohol.
Researchers used real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests to trip across viral RNA in platinum biomicroscope samples, cleft lamp breathing shield, foroptera, tonometer and door handles.
A total of 31 other people entered the examination room, adding 22 patients who passed the COVID-1nine triage and nine escorts. The average test duration is approximately nine minutes. Seven samples were taken before all the tests that day and seven samples were taken after the last patient left the room.
While all samples taken at the beginning of the scale were negative, two out of seven were positive at the end of the day. Respiratory coverage samples for the cleft lamp and foropter were within a few feet (less than 1 meter) of the patient compared to other more remote areas.
In addition to RT-PCR that measures only viral material, not infectious virus or even viral load, the authors also noted that it was not known whether patients, couples and fitness staff had symptoms.
Molly Walker is Deputy Editor-in-Chief, covering infectious diseases for MedPage today. She is passionate about evidence, knowledge and public health. Follow
The authors revealed some conflict of interest.
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