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This schematic shows some of the location where SARS-CoV-2 ’ s genetic signature was detected in the intensive care unit ( ICU ) and other hospital rooms . Courtesy of UC San Diego Health Sciences
but the researchers expect they would find similar results in any hospital treating patients with COVID-19 .
“ This is huge on so many levels ,” said co-senior author Daniel Sweeney , MD , critical care and infectious disease physician at UC San Diego Health . “ We need to know if our personal protective equipment is adequate , and fortunately we know now that things like masks , gloves , gowns and face shields really do work . This pandemic has been a global disaster , but it could ’ ve been even worse if our healthcare workers were getting infected , especially if we didn ’ t know why .”
Viruses don ’ t typically hang out alone . Whether on people or surfaces , they are part of complex communities known as microbiomes , which may include a variety of other viruses , bacteria and additional microbes . In looking for the coronavirus , the team discovered something else : one particular type of bacteria from the genus Rothia was found alongside SARS-CoV-2 more often than not , regardless of collection site . In other words , the presence of Rothia strongly predicted that they would also detect SARS-CoV-2 in the same sample .
“ Why that relationship ?” asked Allard . “ Does the bacteria help the virus survive , or vice versa ? Or is it just that these bacteria are associated with the underlying medical conditions that put patients at higher risk for severe COVID-19 in the first place ? That ’ s an area for future research .” researchers began swabbing hospital rooms and quarantine facilities for places the virus could be lurking . And it seemed to be everywhere .”
The fact that experts are saying that SARS-CoV-2 transmission and infection via surfaces is rare should not cancel out the growing evidence of the importance of environmental cleaning and disinfection in preventing and controlling HAIs in the healthcare setting .
Lewis ( 2021 ) points to “ messy data ” and researchers slogging through massive piles of epidemiological information about how the virus spreads , needing more detailed investigations , carefully tracking who infects whom , and what surfaces and spaces they shared around the time of infection . Lewis ( 2021 ) also quotes one researcher as noting , “ What we really , really value is epidemiological investigations of transmission patterns , whether it ’ s in households or workplaces or elsewhere . I don ’ t think we ’ ve been doing enough of that .”
Lewis ( 2021 ) also emphatically states , “ Armed with a year ’ s worth of data about coronavirus cases , researchers say one fact is clear . It ’ s people , not surfaces , that should be the main cause for concern .”
As we have seen , when it updated its surface cleaning guidelines for COVID-19 , the CDC noted that the risk of contracting the virus from touching a contaminated surface was less than 1 in 10,000 .
At a White House briefing CDC director Rochelle Walensky noted , “ People can be affected with the virus that causes COVID-19 through contact with contaminated surfaces and objects . However , evidence has demonstrated that the risk by this route of infection of transmission is actually low .”
Anthes ( 2020 ) quotes Linsey Marr , a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech , as saying , “’ We ’ ve known this for a long time and yet people are still focusing so much on surface cleaning . There ’ s really no evidence that anyone