Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeOther'sPublic InterestCoronavirus RNA Found In Dust of Isolation Centers

Coronavirus RNA Found In Dust of Isolation Centers

According to a recent study, some of the genetic material of the coronavirus can stay in the dust for at least a month. It may persist in the rooms where the patient was isolated.

Can Dust Transmit Coronavirus To Humans? 

The study is published in the journal mSystems and is yet to be able to identify if the virus in dust can transfer the coronavirus to humans. However, it has offered a new finding in monitoring the outbreak of the pandemic in isolation areas.

Researchers from the Ohio State University in the United States of America worked with the people responsible for cleaning the rooms at the Universities Covid 19 centres. For the study, the authors took samples from the two homes where people have tested positive for Covid 19. They also gathered vacuum bags of dust from the cleaning crews and the homes. The researchers took swabs from the floors of the isolation rooms.

ALSO READ:-Covid 19 Gives Rise To More Depression and Anxiety Cases Within Families; Study

The study suggests that they had founds RNA (part of the genetic material inside a virus) which was present in 97 percent of the bulk dust samples and found 55 percent from the surface swabs.

The samples were tested weekly and the virus’s RNA did not decay in the vacuum bags even after four weeks. Nicole Renninger, an engineering student from the university and the lead author of the study said that they weren’t sure if the genetic material would survive. Renninger said that there are many different organisms in the dust and they weren’t sure if they’d see any viral RNA. And the researchers were themselves surprised that the RNA survived a long time.

ALSO READ:-Male Covid 19 Patients More Likely To Have A Stroke; Study

Renninger also said that monitoring dust regarding the spread of Coronavirus offers an understanding on a smaller scale especially in nursing homes, hospitals, schools and much more.

Municipalities Test Wastewater For Covid 19 Virus

As per the reports, municipalities and others are currently in the process of testing wastewater to evaluate the spread of Coronavirus within the community. Since the Covid 19 gene tends to copy and fragment in the human vaste, testing wastewater could further expand the horizons of study even for asymptomatic people.