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World J Clin Cases. Apr 26, 2020; 8(8): 1391-1399
Published online Apr 26, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i8.1391
Stability and infectivity of coronaviruses in inanimate environments
Shi-Yan Ren, Wen-Biao Wang, Ya-Guang Hao, Hao-Ran Zhang, Zhi-Chao Wang, Ye-Lin Chen, Rong-Ding Gao
Shi-Yan Ren, Vascular Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Aviation General Hospital, China Medical University, Beijing 100012, China
Wen-Biao Wang, Ya-Guang Hao, Zhi-Chao Wang, Rong-Ding Gao, Aviation General Hospital, China Medical University, Beijing 100012, China
Hao-Ran Zhang, State Key laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Chemical Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Ye-Lin Chen, College of Robotics, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China
Author contributions: Ren SY, Wang WB, Hao YG and Zhang HR contribute to the paper equally; Ren SY designed, drafted, revised and submitted the manuscript. Wang WB, Zhang HR, Hao YG discussed and revised the article. Gao RD and Chen YL searched for the references and discussed the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shi-Yan Ren, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Surgeon, Vascular Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Aviation General Hospital, China Medical University, 2 Beiyuan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012, China. rens66@126.com
Received: March 4, 2020
Peer-review started: March 4, 2020
First decision: April 1, 2020
Revised: April 3, 2020
Accepted: April 10, 2020
Article in press: April 10, 2020
Published online: April 26, 2020
Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly contagious virus that can transmit through respiratory droplets, aerosols, or contacts. Frequent touching of contaminated surfaces in public areas is therefore a potential route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The inanimate surfaces have often been described as a source of nosocomial infections. However, summaries on the transmissibility of coronaviruses from contaminated surfaces to induce the coronavirus disease 2019 are rare at present. This review aims to summarize data on the persistence of different coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces. The literature was systematically searched on Medline without language restrictions. All reports with experimental evidence on the duration persistence of coronaviruses on any type of surface were included. Most viruses from the respiratory tract, such as coronaviruses, influenza, SARS-CoV, or rhinovirus, can persist on surfaces for a few days. Persistence time on inanimate surfaces varied from minutes to up to one month, depending on the environmental conditions. SARS-CoV-2 can be sustained in air in closed unventilated buses for at least 30 min without losing infectivity. The most common coronaviruses may well survive or persist on surfaces for up to one month. Viruses in respiratory or fecal specimens can maintain infectivity for quite a long time at room temperature. Absorbent materials like cotton are safer than unabsorbent materials for protection from virus infection. The risk of transmission via touching contaminated paper is low. Preventive strategies such as washing hands and wearing masks are critical to the control of coronavirus disease 2019.

Keywords: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Coronavirus disease 2019, Inanimate surface, Infectivity, Survival, Transmission

Core tip: Survival time of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus on inanimate surfaces varied from minutes to up to one month depending on the environmental conditions.