1. SARS-CoV-2 detection in bioaerosols using a liquid impinger collector and ddPCR.
- Author
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Truyols Vives J, Muncunill J, Toledo Pons N, Baldoví HG, Sala Llinàs E, and Mercader Barceló J
- Subjects
- Hospitals, Humans, Polymerase Chain Reaction methods, RNA, Viral analysis, Air Pollution, Indoor, COVID-19 diagnosis, Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets virology, SARS-CoV-2 isolation & purification
- Abstract
The airborne route is the dominant form of COVID-19 transmission, and therefore, the development of methodologies to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in bioaerosols is needed. We aimed to identify SARS-CoV-2 in bioaerosols by using a highly efficient sampler for the collection of 1-3 µm particles, followed by a highly sensitive detection method. 65 bioaerosol samples were collected in hospital rooms in the presence of a COVID-19 patient using a liquid impinger sampler. The SARS-CoV-2 genome was detected by ddPCR using different primer/probe sets. 44.6% of the samples resulted positive for SARS-CoV-2 following this protocol. By increasing the sampled air volume from 339 to 650 L, the percentage of positive samples went from 41% to 50%. We detected five times less positives with a commercial one-step RT-PCR assay. However, the selection of primer/probe sets might be one of the most determining factor for bioaerosol SARS-CoV-2 detection since with the ORF1ab set more than 40% of the samples were positive, compared to <10% with other sets. In conclusion, the use of a liquid impinger collector and ddPCR is an adequate strategy to detect SARS-CoV-2 in bioaerosols. However, there are still some methodological aspects that must be adjusted to optimize and standardize a definitive protocol., (© 2022 The Authors. Indoor Air published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Published
- 2022
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