At the same time, the researchers give the all-clear: The study has not yet proven that other people can become infected through contact with contaminated surfaces. The study results were published in the specialist magazine Eurosurveillance.
“We assume that surfaces would have to be very heavily contaminated in order to become infected through contact with this surface. This probably particularly affects people working in the care of affected patients and people who live with someone who is sick. According to current findings, publicly accessible hand contact surfaces such as door handles or elevator buttons do not pose any danger.”
Prof. Dr. Johannes Knobloch, head of the study and the hospital hygiene department at the UKE
The researchers were able to detect up to a million virus components on surfaces that came into direct contact with the skin of the sick patients or that the sick patients touched with their hands, and even up to ten million in contaminated laundry. The researchers were also able to find the smallest traces of the virus outside of the rooms occupied by patients.
The scientists have also succeeded in cultivating monkeypox viruses from surfaces for the first time - but only from the most heavily contaminated surfaces. These data indicate that the detections using PCR are not just inactivated virus components, but that at least a proportion of the measured load contains intact viruses. The cultivation of viruses from inanimate surfaces is an important component in understanding the transmission routes of the monkeypox virus.
“Our results match previous observations that in most cases people can only become infected through very close contact with someone who is sick. At the same time, our results show that medical staff should strictly adhere to the recommended protective measures when caring for affected patients.”
Prof. Dr. Johannes Knobloch
Original publication: D. Nörz, S. Pfefferle et al.
Evidence of extensive surface contamination in hospital rooms occupied by patients infected with monkeypox. Eurosurveillance. 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.26.2200477
Source: German Health Portal
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