PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Household characteristics associated with surface contamination of SARS-CoV-2 and frequency of RT-PCR and viral culture positivity–California and Colorado, 2021

  • Talya Shragai,
  • Caroline Pratt,
  • Joaudimir Castro Georgi,
  • Marisa A. P. Donnelly,
  • Noah G. Schwartz,
  • Raymond Soto,
  • Meagan Chuey,
  • Victoria T. Chu,
  • Perrine Marcenac,
  • Geun Woo Park,
  • Ausaf Ahmad,
  • Bernadette Albanese,
  • Sarah Elizabeth Totten,
  • Brett Austin,
  • Paige Bunkley,
  • Blake Cherney,
  • Elizabeth A. Dietrich,
  • Erica Figueroa,
  • Jennifer M. Folster,
  • Claire Godino,
  • Owen Herzegh,
  • Kristine Lindell,
  • Boris Relja,
  • Sarah W. Sheldon,
  • Suxiang Tong,
  • Jan Vinjé,
  • Natalie J. Thornburg,
  • Almea M. Matanock,
  • Laura J. Hughes,
  • Ginger Stringer,
  • Meghan Hudziec,
  • Mark E. Beatty,
  • Jacqueline E. Tate,
  • Hannah L. Kirking,
  • Christopher H. Hsu

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 10

Abstract

Read online

While risk of fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is considered low, there is limited environmental data within households. This January—April 2021 investigation describes frequency and types of surfaces positive for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) among residences with ≥1 SARS-CoV-2 infection, and associations of household characteristics with surface RT-PCR and viable virus positivity. Of 1232 samples from 124 households, 27.8% (n = 342) were RT-PCR positive with nightstands (44.1%) and pillows (40.9%) most frequently positive. SARS-CoV-2 lineage, documented household transmission, greater number of infected persons, shorter interval between illness onset and sampling, total household symptoms, proportion of infected persons ≤12 years old, and persons exhibiting upper respiratory symptoms or diarrhea were associated with more positive surfaces. Viable virus was isolated from 0.2% (n = 3 samples from one household) of all samples. This investigation suggests that while SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces is common, fomite transmission risk in households is low.