Modeling the stability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on skin, currency, and clothing

  1. David E. Harbourt
  2. Andrew D. Haddow
  3. Ashley E. Piper
  4. Holly Bloomfield
  5. Brian J. Kearney
  6. David Fetterer
  7. Kathleen Gibson
  8. Timothy Minogue

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Abstract

A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the winter of 2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread around the world. The extent and efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is far greater than previous coronaviruses that emerged in the 21 st Century. Here, we modeled stability of SARS-CoV-2 on skin, paper currency, and clothing to determine if these surfaces may factor in the fomite transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2. Skin, currency, and clothing samples were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 under laboratory conditions and incubated at three different temperatures (4°C± 2°C, 22°C± 2°C, and 37°C ± 2°C). We evaluated stability at 0 hours (h), 4 h, 8 h, 24 h, 72 h, 96 h, 7 days, and 14 days post-exposure. SARS-CoV-2 was stable on skin through the duration of the experiment at 4°C (14 days). Virus remained stable on skin for at least 96 h at 22°C and for at least 8h at 37°C. There were minimal differences between the tested currency samples. The virus remained stable on the $1 U.S.A. Bank Note for at least 96 h at 4°C while we did not detect viable virus on the $20 U.S.A. Bank Note samples beyond 72 h. The virus remained stable on both Bank Notes for at least 8 h at 22°C and 4 h at 37°C. Clothing samples were similar in stability to the currency. Viable virus remained for at least 96 h at 4°C and at least 4 h at 22°C. We did not detect viable virus on clothing samples at 37°C after initial exposure. This study confirms the inverse relationship between virus stability and temperature. Furthermore, virus stability on skin demonstrates the need for continued hand hygiene practices to minimize fomite transmission both in the general population as well as in workplaces where close contact is common.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.01.20144253: (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
    A working virus stock was prepared by adding virus to Grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) Vero 76 kidney cells (ATCC, Manassas, VA; #CRL-1587) at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.01.
    Vero 76
    suggested: ATCC Cat# CRL-1587, RRID:CVCL_0603)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Analysis was implemented in SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC), with the exception of the gap test, which was implemented in R (12) package outliers version 0.14.
    SAS Institute
    suggested: (Statistical Analysis System, RRID:SCR_008567)

    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: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    It is important to note the limitations of this study when analyzing the results. The variability in the decay curves between earlier studies and our results could have been due to differences in exposure doses (4, 6, 7). In addition, inherent variability with a study where virus is recovered from a tested surface can potentially confound some of the results, particularly at virus concentrations close to the limit of detection (LOD) or lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) (Fig. 1). The results in this study demonstrate the continued inverse relationship between virus stability and temperature which is seen both in the laboratory and in the field when evaluating different transmission rates of SARS-CoV-2 in different parts of the world (19). While both fomite and aerosol transmission could be significant factors, due to the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on skin there is a continued need to reinforce proper hand hygiene practices and social distancing guidelines to minimize ongoing transmission potential.

    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 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008831
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.01.20144253: (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
    A working virus stock was prepared by adding virus to Grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) Vero 76 kidney cells (ATCC, Manassas, VA; #CRL-1587) at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.01.
    Vero 76
    suggested: ATCC Cat# CRL-1587, CVCL_0603

    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 OddPub: We did not find a statement about open data. We also did not find a statement about open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    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 is not a substitute for expert review. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers) in the manuscript, and detects sentences that appear to be missing RRIDs. SciScore also checks to make sure that rigor criteria are addressed by authors. It does this by detecting sentences that discuss criteria such as blinding or power analysis. SciScore does not guarantee that the rigor criteria that it detects are appropriate for the particular study. Instead it assists authors, editors, and reviewers by drawing attention to sections of the manuscript that contain or should contain various rigor criteria and key resources. For details on the results shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2020.07.01.20144253v1 on medRxiv