Abstract
Knowledge about contagiousness is key to accurate management of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Epidemiological studies suggest that in addition to transmission through droplets, aerogenic SARS-CoV-2 transmission contributes to the spread of infection. However, the presence of virus in exhaled air has not yet been sufficiently demonstrated. In pandemic situations low tech disposable and user-friendly bedside devices are required, while commercially available samplers are unsuitable for application in patients with respiratory distress. We included 49 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and used a disposable modular breath sampler to measure SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in exhaled air samples and compared these to SARS-CoV-2 RNA load of combined nasopharyngeal throat swabs and saliva. Exhaled air sampling using the modular breath sampler has proven feasible in a clinical COVID-19 setting and demonstrated viral detection in 25% of the patients.
【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Saliva, pandemic, Infection, Transmission, droplets, virus, Spread, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, Viral, nasopharyngeal, management, breath, Patient, Viral detection, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, patients, hospitalized COVID-19 patient, distress, respiratory distress, hospitalized COVID-19 patients, epidemiological studies, contagiousness, throat swab, addition, required, contribute, demonstrated, feasible, 【제목키워드】 hospitalized COVID-19 patient,