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Smolinska A, Jessop DS, Pappan KL, De Saedeleer A, Kang A, Martin AL, Allsworth M, Tyson C, Bos MP, Clancy M, Morel M, Cooke T, Dymond T, Harris C, Galloway J, Bresser P, Dijkstra N, Jagesar V, Savelkoul PHM, Beuken EVH, Nix WHV, Louis R, Delvaux M, Calmes D, Ernst B, Pollini S, Peired A, Guiot J, Tomassetti S, Budding AE, McCaughan F, Marciniak SJ, van der Schee MP. The SARS-CoV-2 viral load in COVID-19 patients is lower on face mask filters than on nasopharyngeal swabs. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13476. [PMID: 34188082 PMCID: PMC8242000 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92665-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Face masks and personal respirators are used to curb the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory droplets; filters embedded in some personal protective equipment could be used as a non-invasive sample source for applications, including at-home testing, but information is needed about whether filters are suited to capture viral particles for SARS-CoV-2 detection. In this study, we generated inactivated virus-laden aerosols of 0.3–2 microns in diameter (0.9 µm mean diameter by mass) and dispersed the aerosolized viral particles onto electrostatic face mask filters. The limit of detection for inactivated coronaviruses SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-NL63 extracted from filters was between 10 to 100 copies/filter for both viruses. Testing for SARS-CoV-2, using face mask filters and nasopharyngeal swabs collected from hospitalized COVID-19-patients, showed that filter samples offered reduced sensitivity (8.5% compared to nasopharyngeal swabs). The low concordance of SARS-CoV-2 detection between filters and nasopharyngeal swabs indicated that number of viral particles collected on the face mask filter was below the limit of detection for all patients but those with the highest viral loads. This indicated face masks are unsuitable to replace diagnostic nasopharyngeal swabs in COVID-19 diagnosis. The ability to detect nucleic acids on face mask filters may, however, find other uses worth future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Smolinska
- Owlstone Medical Ltd., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK.,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | | | - Kirk L Pappan
- Owlstone Medical Ltd., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | | | - Amerjit Kang
- Owlstone Medical Ltd., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | | | - Max Allsworth
- Owlstone Medical Ltd., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | | | | | | | - Mike Morel
- Cambridge Clinical Laboratories Ltd., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Tony Cooke
- Cambridge Clinical Laboratories Ltd., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Tom Dymond
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Claire Harris
- Department of Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.,University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jacqui Galloway
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | - Paul H M Savelkoul
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Care and Public Health Research Institute (Caphri), Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Erik V H Beuken
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Care and Public Health Research Institute (Caphri), Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Wesley H V Nix
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Care and Public Health Research Institute (Caphri), Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Renaud Louis
- Repiratory Department, CHU Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | | | | | - Benoit Ernst
- Repiratory Department, CHU Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Simona Pollini
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.,Microbiology and Virology Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Anna Peired
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Julien Guiot
- Repiratory Department, CHU Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Sara Tomassetti
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.,Interventional Pulmonology Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Frank McCaughan
- Department of Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.,University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Stefan J Marciniak
- Department of Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.,University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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