It rarely catches COVID from the surface.So maybe we can ease disinfection

Since so much has happened in the past year, it is permissible to have no clear memory of some of the first major concerns of the pandemic.

But looking back at the beginning of the pandemic, one of the main concerns is that the surface transmission of Virus..

As an epidemiologist, I remember spending countless hours answering media requests to answer the question of whether to wash the outside of food cans or disinfect mail.

I also remember seeing a team of people wiping poles and cleaning public benches constantly walking down the street.

But what is the evidence actually What do you say about a surface infection to this pandemic for more than 12 months?

Before addressing this, we need to define the question we are asking.The important question is not whether surface permeation is possible or can occur Real World— Almost certainly possible.

The real question is what is the role of surface contact in viral infections. So, in contrast to other infection methods, how likely is it to catch COVID through the surface?

Evidence is minimal

There is little evidence that surface infections are a common way for coronaviruses to spread. The main way it spreads is by air, either by large droplets due to close contact or by small droplets called aerosols. By the way, the relative role these two pathways play in communication is probably a much more interesting and important question to clarify from a public health perspective.

One of the best commentary on COVID surface infections Published in the journal Lancet infection By Emmanuel Goldman, a professor of microbiology in the United States, July 2020.

As he explained, one of the driving forces behind the exaggerated perception of the risk of surface infections is number Of research It indicates that SARS-CoV-2 virus particles have been detected on various surfaces for a long period of time.

Perhaps you saw these studies as they received Big publicity around the world And I remember doing a lot of interviews that had to explain what these findings really mean.

According to Australian researchers, the virus responsible for COVID-19 is much longer than the influenza virus and can survive up to 28 days on bills, glass and stainless steel, requiring cleaning and hand washing to fight the virus. Emphasizes sex. https://t.co/Y1Qwwr3jau pic.twitter.com/PpQLGAkhw4

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 12, 2020

As me I explained at that time, These studies cannot be generalized to the real world, and in some cases the media releases that accompany them Tends to exaggerate the importance of these findings..

The key issue is, as a general rule, how long does a microbial population need to die? Directly proportional To the size of that population. This means that the more virus that deposits on a surface, the longer viable virus particles will be found on that surface.

Therefore, from the perspective of designing experiments related to public health, one of the most important variables in these studies is amount The amount of virus deposited on the surface — and about as much as this happens in the real world.

With this understanding, many of these virus survival studies detect viable viruses by depositing large numbers of viruses on surfaces that far exceed what is reasonably expected to be found in the real world. It becomes clear that you are accumulating the possibilities of doing so. In addition, some of these studies have customized conditions that extend the life of virus particles. Humidity adjustment, elimination of natural light, etc...

There was nothing wrong with the science here, but sometimes the real-world relevance and interpretation were wrong.It is worth noting that other studies have discovered that more closely reproduce real-world scenarios. Less Impressive Survival of the other three human coronaviruses (including SARS).

It is important to note that we rely on indirect evidence when assessing the role of surface transmission. Coronavirus.. In other words, it is necessary to intentionally infect humans, so it is not possible to actually conduct ethical scientific experiments to confirm the role of surface infections. Despite this seemingly simple question, it is surprisingly difficult to determine the relative importance of the various transmission routes of this virus.

Instead, all we have to do is look at all the evidence we have and see what it tells us, including case studies that explain the transmission event. .. And when you do this, It’s not Lots It is there to support surface propagation, which is very important in the spread of COVID.

I saved a lot of time and money

Focus limited energy and resources on the right ones because the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through different modes of infection needs to be considered.

This does not mean that surface penetration is not possible and does not pose a risk in certain situations or should be completely ignored. However, it should be recognized that the threat of surface infections is relatively small.

Therefore, this relatively small risk can be mitigated by continuing to focus on hand hygiene and ensuring that the cleaning protocol is more consistent with the risk. surface transmission.

Doing this can save millions of dollars spent on compulsive cleaning work.these are Probably little or no benefit It’s done just because it’s easy, it gives you the peace of mind of doing something, which relieves some of our anxiety.

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