A realistic touch-transfer method reveals low risk of transmission for SARS-CoV-2 by contaminated coins and bank notes

  1. Daniel Todt
  2. Toni Luise Meister
  3. Barbora Tamele
  4. John Howes
  5. Dajana Paulmann
  6. Britta Becker
  7. Florian H. Brill
  8. Mark Wind
  9. Jack Schijven
  10. Baxolele Mhlekude
  11. Christine Goffinet
  12. Adalbert Krawczyk
  13. Jörg Steinmann
  14. Stephanie Pfaender
  15. Yannick Brüggemann
  16. Eike Steinmann

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Abstract

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a significant threat to global health. While respiratory aerosols or droplets are considered as the main route of human-to-human transmission, secretions expelled by infected individuals can also contaminate surfaces and objects, potentially creating the risk of fomite-based transmission. Consequently, frequently touched objects such as paper currency and coins have been suspected as a potential transmission vehicle. To assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by banknotes and coins, we examined the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and bovine coronavirus (BCoV), as surrogate with lower biosafety restrictions, on these different means of payment and developed a touch transfer method to examine transfer efficiency from contaminated surfaces to skin. Although we observed prolonged virus stability, our results, including a novel touch transfer method, indicate that the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via contaminated coins and banknotes is unlikely and requires high viral loads and a timely order of specific events.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.04.02.438182: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Preparation of test virus suspension: For preparation of SARS-CoV-2 test virus suspension, Vero E6 cells were seeded in a 75 cm2 flasks at 2×106 cells in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM, supplemented with 10 % (v/v) fetal calf serum (FCS), 1 % non-essential amino acids, 100 IU/mL penicillin, 100 µg/mL streptomycin and 2 mM L-Glutamine).
    Vero E6
    suggested: None
    For preparation of BCoV virus suspension, U373 cells were cultivated in a 75 cm2 flask with in Minimum Essential Medium Eagle (EMEM) supplemented with L-glutamine, non-essential amino acids and sodium pyruvate and 10 % FCS.
    U373
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Fitting of virus titer decay: To model the decay in virus titer, we implemented a Weibull distribution fit in GraphPad Prism version 9.0.2 for Windows (GraphPad Software, San Diego, California USA, www.graphpad.com) Calculation of the reduction factor: The loss in virus titer by desiccation was calculated by subtracting the titer on the different carriers after desiccation from the titer of the initial virus control.
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.04.02.438182 on bioRxiv