Coronavirus lurks and lingers in nursing home patients' rooms, study
finds
Rigorous surface cleaning needed to reduce chance of spread to
unvaccinated and vaccinated-but-vulnerable patients, staff and visitors

Date:
November 12, 2021
Source:
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Summary:
Even though most COVID-19 cases come from exposure to airborne
coronavirus, a new study points to the importance of surfaces as
a reservoir of risk in nursing homes -- especially certain objects
close to the beds of patients who have COVID-19.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Even though most COVID-19 cases come from exposure to airborne
coronavirus, a new study points to the importance of surfaces as a
reservoir of risk in nursing homes -- especially certain objects close
to the beds of patients who have COVID-19.


==========================================================================
The study finds that 90% of current COVID patients' rooms had detectable coronavirus on at least one surface, and that the virus was still
detectable days later on certain surfaces, especially TV remote controls
and nurse call buttons.

In all, 28% of the more than 2,000 samples taken from inside and near
the rooms of 104 COVID patients turned up positive for coronavirus
RNA. The researchers did not test to see if the viruses on the swabs
were capable of causing an infection but it can help identify surfaces
that need cleaning and inform infection prevention policies.

Reassuringly, the study also finds that the virus was rare or not
detectable on surfaces outside the COVID patients' rooms -- probably
reflecting the aggressive infection prevention protocols in COVID
units. The study was conducted by University of Michigan researchers in
four Michigan nursing homes between October 2020 and January 2021 when
the state had a prolonged surge of cases.

"These data show that coronavirus is ubiquitous and persistent in the
rooms of nursing home residents with COVID-19, and highlight the ongoing importance of rigorous cleaning and protection of staff and visitors,"
said Lona Mody, M.D., M.Sc., the study's first author and leader of
nursing home infection prevention research at Michigan Medicine's
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric and Palliative
Medicine as well as VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

She worked with Emily Martin, Ph.D., of the U-M School of Public Health,
and members of their teams and the staff of the four nursing homes to
conduct the study.

One-third of the people in the United States who have died from COVID-19
have been nursing home residents, mainly in the early months of the
pandemic.

Now, despite high rates of vaccination among nursing home residents, and growing vaccination among nursing home staff, the risk to unvaccinated patients, staff and visitors, and the risk of breakthrough cases among chronically ill, recently hospitalized and frail elderly residents,
is still significant.

All of the patients had been diagnosed with COVID in the past two weeks
and were staying in dedicated COVID units to keep them away from other
nursing home residents. Nearly one in four had been in the hospital in
the past month.

More than half of the patients had dementia, and most needed extensive
help with bathing, dressing and eating. Half of the patients were
short-stay residents of the nursing home, and by February nearly a third
of the sample had gone home.

The more independently the patients could move or function, the higher
the chance that surfaces such as bed and TV remote controls, nurse
call buttons, windowsills and doorknobs had persistent coronavirus
present. Very few positive swabs turned up in the sitting areas, nurses' stations and elevator buttons nearest the COVID units.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (3P30AG024824- 16S1AG041780, AG050685, AG024824).

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Michigan_Medicine_-_University_of_Michigan. Original written by Kara
Gavin. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lona Mody, Kristen E. Gibson, Julia Mantey, Liza Bautista,
Ana Montoya,
Karen Neeb, Grace Jenq, John P. Mills, Lillian Min, Mohammed Kabeto,
Andrzej Galecki, Marco Cassone, Emily T. Martin. Environmental
contamination with SARS‐CoV‐2 in nursing homes. Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society, 2021; DOI: 10.1111/jgs.17531 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211112122540.htm

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