Seasonal Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in Biological Fluids

  1. Taeyong Kwon
  2. Natasha N. Gaudreault
  3. Juergen A. Richt

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Abstract

The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs by close contact with infected persons through droplets, the inhalation of infectious aerosols, and the exposure to contaminated surfaces. Previously, we determined the virus stability on different types of surfaces under indoor and seasonal climatic conditions. SARS-CoV-2 survived the longest on surfaces under winter conditions, followed by spring/fall and summer conditions, suggesting the seasonal pattern of stability on surfaces. However, under natural conditions, the virus is secreted in various biological fluids from infected humans. In this respect, it remains unclear how long the virus survives in various types of biological fluids. This study explores SARS-CoV-2 stability in virus-spiked human biological fluids under different environmental conditions by determining the virus half-life. The virus was stable for up to 21 days in nasal mucus, sputum, saliva, tear, urine, blood, and semen; it remained infectious significantly longer under winter and spring/fall conditions than under summer conditions. In contrast, the virus was only stable up to 24 h in feces and breast milk. These findings demonstrate the potential risk of infectious biological fluids in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and have implications for its seasonality.

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  1. Version published to 10.3390/pathogens10050540
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.04.07.438866: (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
    The infectious virus was recovered at the respective time point in 2 mL DMEM supplemented with 5% FBS, filtered through 0.45 μm syringe filter (TPP, Trasadingen, Switzerland) and titrated on Vero E6 cells (Table 2).
    Vero E6
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_XD71)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Log-transformed virus titers in nasal mucus, sputum, saliva, tears, urine, blood, semen, and positive control were incorporate to estimate a simple linear regression in Prism 9 (GraphPad, San Diego, CA, USA).
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    Significant difference between liquid and surface settings was tested using default analysis which is compatible to analysis of covariance in GraphPad Prism 9.
    GraphPad Prism
    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: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    However, the limitations of this approach are that the content of organic matter is dependent on the type of biological fluids and that fluids contain substances which could be beneficial or harmful for virus survival. These drawbacks led to new approaches to test SARS-CoV-2 stability in biological fluids, such as human nasal mucus, sputum, fecal suspension and urine [18, 19]. In the present study, we determined the potential risk of biological fluids to spread SARS-CoV-2 by testing its stability in nine human biological fluids from which the virus has been isolated (nasal mucus, sputum, saliva, tears, feces and urine) or detected (breast milk, blood and semen). Generally, SARS-CoV-2 is excreted in biological fluids from infected patients. It can contaminate surfaces and eventually dry on surfaces as the result of water evaporation. The duration of evaporation is dependent on various factors, such as the volume of water and surrounding environmental conditions. Therefore, we evaluated virus stability in various biological fluids using (1) a liquid setting in which the mixture was placed in a sealed tube to prevent evaporation and (2) a surface setting in which the mixture was completely dried on the stainless steel surface. Both beneficial and harmful substances concentrate when dried on the surface, and there is little or no activity of microorganisms, broadly active viral inhibitors, or enzymes due to the lack of water in the surface setting. In the present study, the virus...

    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.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.04.07.438866v1 on bioRxiv