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Presumable Strategies to Combat the COVID-19 Deleterious Effects
Published in Suman Lata Tripathi, Kanav Dhir, Deepika Ghai, Shashikant Patil, Health Informatics and Technological Solutions for Coronavirus (COVID-19), 2021
Harshit Agarwal, Shakti Bhushan, Pooja Pant, Vandana Meena, Nupur Gupta
Fomites are usually objects such as clothes, utensils, furniture, improperly sanitized medical equipment through which viral and bacterial infections are often transferred from one carrier to another (Kraay et al. 2018). Viruses account for 60% of human infection, and most infectious infections are caused by respiratory and enteric viruses. Fomites are infected with the virus by the direct body or body secretions, by soiled hands, the aerosol virus (droplet propagations) that is produced through voice, sneezing, coughing or vomiting, or by contact with an airborne virus that settles after a tainted fomite has been disrupted, i.e., through the shaking of a tainted blanket. In the present context of coronavirus issue, it is important to avoid the direct use of any fomites. Before using any object, it is necessary to clean the object with proper sanitization. Stephanie A. Boone published an article on the role of Fomites in the dissemination of Respiratory and Enteric Viral Disease, where he addressed the importance of Fomites in spreading most of the virus including coronavirus. Also, they have explained clearly how the virus stays on the objects (Pan et al. 2020; Boone and Gerba 2007).
Microbiological Hazards
Published in Dag K. Brune, Christer Edling, Occupational Hazards in the Health Professions, 2020
Respiratory syncytial virus is the most common cause of lower respiratory disease in infants and children below school age, and personnel caring for infected children have a high risk of acquiring the disease.365a Even though the disease is not serious, the employee frequently has to refrain from work for some days. The virus is transmitted by close contact with droplets from the respiratory tract, directly infecting the eyes or nose, and is transmitted indirectly from contaminated fomites. Agah et al.365b recently reported that the use of masks and goggles significantly reduced the risk of RSV infection in personnel caring for children with such infections. The RSV illness rate in health-care workers using masks and goggles was 5%, but the rate for those not using masks and goggles was 61%. Similar results were reported by Gala et al.365c However, the degree of protection provided by stringent handwashing alone was not examined in these studies. Since the virus is often inoculated into the mucous membrane from contaminated hands, frequent handwashing is important. However, due to suboptimal compliance with handwashing, the use of masks and goggles or similar protection of the mucous membranes seems to be required for maximal protection against RSV infection. An effective vaccine is not available.
Human physiology, hazards and health risks
Published in Stephen Battersby, Clay's Handbook of Environmental Health, 2016
David J. Baker, Naima Bradley, Alec Dobney, Virginia Murray, Jill R. Meara, John O’Hagan, Neil P. McColl, Caryn L. Cox
This may involve inanimate material or objects such as fomites that provide a vehicle where the infectious agent may or may not develop in or on before transmission. Examples of such vehicles include toys, soiled clothing, cooking utensils and surgical instruments. Indirect transmission can also occur via vectors such as insects that mechanically transfer the agent to the susceptible host or that support the multiplication and development of the agent before transmitting the infectious form of the agent to humans.
SIREN – smart ventilation for infection risk mitigation and HVAC energy efficiency: a case study amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Published in Journal of Building Performance Simulation, 2023
Zhihong Pang, Xing Lu, Pingfan Hu, Zheng O’Neill, Qingsheng Wang
It is worth noting that the infection risk via fomite transmission is not considered in this study due to three reasons. Firstly, the quantification of the infection risk of COVID-19 through contact transmission is a challenging task due to the uncertainty associated with the personal hygiene awareness. This study focused on the risk of airborne transmission to reduce the ambiguity stemming from other transmission routes. Secondly, studies have indicated that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection through fomite transmission is generally low, with less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of infection from each contact with a contaminated surface (U.S. CDC 2021b). Therefore, it is likely that excluding the risk of contact transmission from this study would not significantly impact the accuracy of the results. Last, the mitigation of fomite transmission requires personal measures such as mask-wearing and hand hygiene. However, this study aims to develop a universal risk mitigation strategy that could reduce the transmission risk for a group of people in public buildings.
Sampling and recovery of infectious SARS-CoV-2 from high-touch surfaces by sponge stick and macrofoam swab
Published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 2023
Rachael L. Hardison, Sang Don Lee, Rebecca Limmer, Joel Marx, Brian M. Taylor, Daniela Barriga, Sarah W. Nelson, Nino Feliciano-Ruiz, Michael J. Stewart, M. Worth Calfee, Ryan R. James, Shawn P. Ryan, Megan W. Howard
Studies on the persistence of infectious coronaviruses on surfaces and the role these surfaces play in viral transmission have explored viral stability and survival (Mahl and Sadler 1975; Sizun et al. 2000; Marques and Domingo 2021). Middle East respiratory syndrome and endemic human coronaviruses were shown to be able to persist as long as 9 days (Kampf et al. 2020) and infectious SARS-CoV-2 as long as 3 days (Van Doremalen Neeltje et al. 2020) after deposition onto surfaces. For SARS-CoV-1, fomite transmission was associated with nosocomial spread (Chen et al. 2004). And though the risk of infection via fomite transmission is likely low, infection via contact with contaminated surfaces or fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is still possible (CDC 2021b).