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

PLoS One. 2022 Oct 10;17(10):e0274946. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274946. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

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.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 Testing
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Colorado
  • Humans
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • SARS-CoV-2* / genetics

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.