Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

9 INFECTION CONTROL Coronavirus can survive 28 days on some surfaces By Gabrielle Masson T he novel coronavirus can survive on common surfaces for up to 28 days, according to an Australian study published Oct. 12 in Virology Journal. Researchers at Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, examined SARS- CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — in the dark at three temperatures, showing survival rates decreased as conditions became hotter. Researchers also found that the virus at 68 degrees Fahrenheit was "extremely robust" on smooth surfaces — like cellphones and other touch screens — surviv- ing for 28 days on glass, steel, and paper and plastic banknotes. At 86 de- grees Fahrenheit, the survival rate dropped to seven days and 24 hours at 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The virus survived for shorter periods on porous surfaces, such as cotton. "This doesn't mean to say that that amount of virus would be capable of infecting someone," Trevor Drew, director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, told Australian public broadcaster ABC. He said infectious peo- ple are still "far more infectious than surfaces," but if a person was "careless with these materials and touched them and then licked your hands or touched your eyes or your nose, you might well get infected upwards of two weeks after they had been contaminated." n 2nd known case of 'Alaskapox virus' identified By Anuja Vaidya A laska reported its second case of a viral infection caused by a novel ortho- poxvirus this summer. Orthopoxviruses infect a variety of animals, including cattle, cats and rodents. But the virus discovered in Alaska in 2015 is not closely related to other known orthopox- viruses. The new virus lineage may represent a new species of orthopoxvirus, which virologists have named "Alaskapox virus," ac- cording to an alert by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. In 2015, a woman in the Fair- banks, Alaska, area developed a small ulceration with a whitish border on her right shoulder surrounded by red skin. She also experienced fever and fatigue. Physicians found that the lesion was caused by a new orthopox- virus. The patient recovered, and the lesion disappeared in six months. In August, another woman, who also lived in the Fairbanks area, began having similar symptoms and a small gray lesion appeared on her left upper arm, followed by skin redness. She tested positive for the orthopoxvirus from the same lineage identified in 2015. The patient recovered, and the lesion had substantially healed in about six weeks. So far, there is no evidence of hu- man-to-human transmission, and the animal-to-human transmission route is unclear. "It is reassuring that both known infections caused self-limiting illness. However, much remains unknown about the epidemiolo- gy and pathology of Alaskapox virus," the alert stated. n COVID-19 viral load high in patient bathrooms, research shows By Mackenzie Bean A n analysis of global research shows that patient bathrooms, staff and public areas of hospitals contain high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 in the air, although the infectivity of these samples is still unclear. Researchers at the University Hospital Centre Nantes in France conducted a systematic review of 17 research articles on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in hospital settings pub- lished between December 2019 and July 21. Overall, 27.5 percent of air samples from patient environments were positive for SARS- CoV-2 RNA, with little variation seen between intensive care unit and non-ICU settings. Only 1.5 percent of air samples taken from less than 1 meter away from the patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. e positivity rate was 23.8 percent in patient toilets, 9.5 percent in clinical areas, 12.4 percent in staff areas and 34.1 percent in public areas. Median virus concentrations were 10 times higher in patient toilets than in patient rooms, study authors found. Attempts to culture these samples did not successfully produce a viable virus, meaning there is little evidence the samples could cause COVID-19 infection in people. "High viral loads found in toilet/bathrooms, staff and public hallways means these areas require strong compliance with cleaning measures and personal protective equipment," researchers concluded. e research was presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases' COVID-19 conference in late September. n

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