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Viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in droplets and bioaerosols directly captured during breathing, speaking and coughing.
Johnson, Tyler J; Nishida, Robert T; Sonpar, Ashlesha P; Lin, Yi-Chan James; Watson, Kimberley A; Smith, Stephanie W; Conly, John M; Evans, David H; Olfert, Jason S.
  • Johnson TJ; Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  • Nishida RT; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. rnishida@ualberta.ca.
  • Sonpar AP; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
  • Lin YJ; Alberta Health Services, Alberta, Canada.
  • Watson KA; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
  • Smith SW; Alberta Health Services, Alberta, Canada.
  • Conly JM; Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
  • Evans DH; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
  • Olfert JS; Alberta Health Services, Alberta, Canada.
Sci Rep ; 12(1): 3484, 2022 03 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1730308
ABSTRACT
Determining the viral load and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in macroscopic respiratory droplets, bioaerosols, and other bodily fluids and secretions is important for identifying transmission modes, assessing risks and informing public health guidelines. Here we show that viral load of SARS-CoV-2 Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) in participants' naso-pharyngeal (NP) swabs positively correlated with RNA viral load they emitted in both droplets >10 [Formula see text] and bioaerosols <10 [Formula see text] directly captured during the combined expiratory activities of breathing, speaking and coughing using a standardized protocol, although the NP swabs had [Formula see text] 10[Formula see text] more RNA on average. By identifying highly-infectious individuals (maximum of 18,000 PFU/mL in NP), we retrieved higher numbers of SARS-CoV-2 RNA gene copies in bioaerosol samples (maximum of 4.8[Formula see text] gene copies/mL and minimum cycle threshold of 26.2) relative to other studies. However, all attempts to identify infectious virus in size-segregated droplets and bioaerosols were negative by plaque assay (0 of 58). This outcome is partly attributed to the insufficient amount of viral material in each sample (as indicated by SARS-CoV-2 gene copies) or may indicate no infectious virus was present in such samples, although other possible factors are identified.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Respiration / Speech / Viral Load / Cough / Aerosols / SARS-CoV-2 Type of study: Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Sci Rep Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S41598-022-07301-5

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Respiration / Speech / Viral Load / Cough / Aerosols / SARS-CoV-2 Type of study: Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Sci Rep Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S41598-022-07301-5