TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a clinical cardiology setting
AU - Somsen, G.A.
AU - Winter, M.M.
AU - Tulevski, I.I.
AU - Kooij, S.
AU - Bonn, D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/7/15
Y1 - 2022/7/15
N2 - Cardiac exercise stress testing (CEST) is an important diagnostic tool in daily cardiology practice. However, during intense physical activity microdroplet aerosols, potentially containing SARS-CoV-2 particles, can persist in a room for a long time. This poses a potential infection risk for the medical staff involved in CEST, as well as for the patients entering the same room afterwards. We measured aerosol generation and persistence, to perform a risk assessment for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols during CEST. We find that during CEST, the aerosol levels remain low enough that SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols is unlikely, with the room ventilation system producing 14 air changes per hour. A simple measurement of CO2 concentration gives a good indication of the ventilation quality.
AB - Cardiac exercise stress testing (CEST) is an important diagnostic tool in daily cardiology practice. However, during intense physical activity microdroplet aerosols, potentially containing SARS-CoV-2 particles, can persist in a room for a long time. This poses a potential infection risk for the medical staff involved in CEST, as well as for the patients entering the same room afterwards. We measured aerosol generation and persistence, to perform a risk assessment for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols during CEST. We find that during CEST, the aerosol levels remain low enough that SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols is unlikely, with the room ventilation system producing 14 air changes per hour. A simple measurement of CO2 concentration gives a good indication of the ventilation quality.
KW - Aerosol transmission
KW - Airborne transmission
KW - COVID-19
KW - Cardiovascular
KW - SARS-CoV-2
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131933443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109254
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109254
M3 - Article
C2 - 35719131
SN - 0360-1323
VL - 220
JO - Building and Environment
JF - Building and Environment
M1 - 109254
ER -