Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air

Piero Di Carlo; Katia Falasca; Claudio Ucciferri; Bruna Sinjari; Eleonora Aruffo; Ivana Antonucci; Alessandra Di Serafino; Arianna Pompilio; Verena Damiani; Domitilla Mandatori; Simone De Fabritiis; Beatrice Dufrusine; Emily Capone; Piero Chiacchiaretta; William H. Brune; Giovanni Di Bonaventura; Jacopo Vecchiet

doi:10.1099/jmm.0.001328

Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air

Piero Di Carlo, Katia Falasca, Claudio Ucciferri, Bruna Sinjari, Eleonora Aruffo, Ivana Antonucci, Alessandra Di Serafino, Arianna Pompilio, Verena Damiani, Domitilla Mandatori, Simone De Fabritiis, Beatrice Dufrusine, Emily Capone, Piero Chiacchiaretta, William H. Brune, Giovanni Di Bonaventura, Jacopo Vecchiet

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study tests the release of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into the air during normal breathing, without any sign of possible risk of contagion such as coughing, sneezing or talking. Five patients underwent oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs for real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Direct SARS-CoV-2 release during normal breathing was also investigated by RT-PCR in air samples collected using a microbiological sampler. Viral RNA was detected in air at 1 cm from the mouth of patients whose oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In contrast, the viral RNA was not identified in the exhaled air from patients with oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs that tested negative. Contagion of SARS-CoV-2 is possible by being very close to the mouth of someone who is infected, asymptomatic and simply breathing.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	001328
Journal	Journal of Medical Microbiology
Volume	70
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001328
State	Published - Feb 25 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Microbiology
Microbiology (medical)

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10.1099/jmm.0.001328

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Di Carlo, P., Falasca, K., Ucciferri, C., Sinjari, B., Aruffo, E., Antonucci, I., Di Serafino, A., Pompilio, A., Damiani, V., Mandatori, D., De Fabritiis, S., Dufrusine, B., Capone, E., Chiacchiaretta, P., Brune, W. H., Di Bonaventura, G., & Vecchiet, J. (2021). Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 70(3), Article 001328. https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001328

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title = "Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air",

abstract = "This study tests the release of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into the air during normal breathing, without any sign of possible risk of contagion such as coughing, sneezing or talking. Five patients underwent oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs for real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Direct SARS-CoV-2 release during normal breathing was also investigated by RT-PCR in air samples collected using a microbiological sampler. Viral RNA was detected in air at 1 cm from the mouth of patients whose oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In contrast, the viral RNA was not identified in the exhaled air from patients with oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs that tested negative. Contagion of SARS-CoV-2 is possible by being very close to the mouth of someone who is infected, asymptomatic and simply breathing.",

author = "{Di Carlo}, Piero and Katia Falasca and Claudio Ucciferri and Bruna Sinjari and Eleonora Aruffo and Ivana Antonucci and {Di Serafino}, Alessandra and Arianna Pompilio and Verena Damiani and Domitilla Mandatori and {De Fabritiis}, Simone and Beatrice Dufrusine and Emily Capone and Piero Chiacchiaretta and Brune, {William H.} and {Di Bonaventura}, Giovanni and Jacopo Vecchiet",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors.",

year = "2021",

month = feb,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1099/jmm.0.001328",

language = "English (US)",

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journal = "Journal of Medical Microbiology",

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Di Carlo, P, Falasca, K, Ucciferri, C, Sinjari, B, Aruffo, E, Antonucci, I, Di Serafino, A, Pompilio, A, Damiani, V, Mandatori, D, De Fabritiis, S, Dufrusine, B, Capone, E, Chiacchiaretta, P, Brune, WH, Di Bonaventura, G & Vecchiet, J 2021, 'Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air', Journal of Medical Microbiology, vol. 70, no. 3, 001328. https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001328

TY - JOUR

T1 - Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air

AU - Di Carlo, Piero

AU - Falasca, Katia

AU - Ucciferri, Claudio

AU - Sinjari, Bruna

AU - Aruffo, Eleonora

AU - Antonucci, Ivana

AU - Di Serafino, Alessandra

AU - Pompilio, Arianna

AU - Damiani, Verena

AU - Mandatori, Domitilla

AU - De Fabritiis, Simone

AU - Dufrusine, Beatrice

AU - Capone, Emily

AU - Chiacchiaretta, Piero

AU - Brune, William H.

AU - Di Bonaventura, Giovanni

AU - Vecchiet, Jacopo

PY - 2021/2/25

Y1 - 2021/2/25

N2 - This study tests the release of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into the air during normal breathing, without any sign of possible risk of contagion such as coughing, sneezing or talking. Five patients underwent oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs for real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Direct SARS-CoV-2 release during normal breathing was also investigated by RT-PCR in air samples collected using a microbiological sampler. Viral RNA was detected in air at 1 cm from the mouth of patients whose oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In contrast, the viral RNA was not identified in the exhaled air from patients with oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs that tested negative. Contagion of SARS-CoV-2 is possible by being very close to the mouth of someone who is infected, asymptomatic and simply breathing.

AB - This study tests the release of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into the air during normal breathing, without any sign of possible risk of contagion such as coughing, sneezing or talking. Five patients underwent oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs for real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Direct SARS-CoV-2 release during normal breathing was also investigated by RT-PCR in air samples collected using a microbiological sampler. Viral RNA was detected in air at 1 cm from the mouth of patients whose oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In contrast, the viral RNA was not identified in the exhaled air from patients with oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs that tested negative. Contagion of SARS-CoV-2 is possible by being very close to the mouth of someone who is infected, asymptomatic and simply breathing.

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JO - Journal of Medical Microbiology

JF - Journal of Medical Microbiology

IS - 3

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ER -

Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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