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Cited by 425

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Detection of Airborne Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus and Environmental Contamination in SARS Outbreak Units

Open access
Booth, Timothy F., Kournikakis, Bill, Bastien, Nathalie, Ho, Jim, Kobasa, Darwyn, Stadnyk, Laurie, Li, Yan, Spence, Mel, Paton, Shirley, Henry, Bonnie, Mederski, Barbara, White, Diane, Low, Donald E., McGeer, Allison, Simor, Andrew, Vearncombe, Mary, Downey, James, Jamieson, Frances B., Tang, Patrick, Plummer, Frank·2005·The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is characterized by a risk of nosocomial transmission; however, the risk of airborne transmission of SARS is unknown. During the Toronto outbreaks of SARS, we investigated environmental contamination in SARS units, by employing novel air sampling and conventional surface swabbing. Two polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–positive air samples were obtained from a room occupied by a patient with SARS, indicating the presence of the virus in the air of the room. In addition, several PCR-positive swab samples were recovered from frequently touched surfaces in rooms occupied by patients with SARS (a bed table and a television remote control) and in a nurses’ station used by staff (a medication refrigerator door). These data provide the first experimental confirmation of viral aerosol generation by a patient with SARS, indicating the possibility of airborne droplet transmission, which emphasizes the need for adequate respiratory protection, as well as for strict surface hygiene practices

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Metadata

Authors
Booth, T. F., Kournikakis, B., Bastien, N., Ho, J., Kobasa, D., Stadnyk, L., Li, Y., Spence, M., Paton, S., Henry, B., Mederski, B., White, D., Low, D. E., McGeer, A., Simor, A., Vearncombe, M., Downey, J., Jamieson, F. B., Tang, P., & Plummer, F.
Venue
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Published
2005-05-01
Volume
191
Issue
9
Pages
1472-1477
ISSN
  • 0022-1899 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-6613
OpenAlex
W2154638029
Cited by
425
References
0
FWCI
10.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Detection of Airborne Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus and Environmental Contamination in SARS Outbreak Units. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1086/429634
The paper
Booth, T. F., Kournikakis, B., Bastien, N., Ho, J., Kobasa, D., Stadnyk, L., Li, Y., Spence, M., Paton, S., Henry, B., Mederski, B., White, D., Low, D. E., McGeer, A., Simor, A., Vearncombe, M., Downey, J., Jamieson, F. B., Tang, P., & Plummer, F. (2005). Detection of Airborne Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus and Environmental Contamination in SARS Outbreak Units. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1086/429634

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.