Body fluids may contribute to human-to-human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: evidence and practical experience

Amir Hossein Mohseni; Sedigheh Taghinezhad-S; Zhigang Xu; Xiangsheng Fu

doi:10.1186/s13020-020-00337-7

Body fluids may contribute to human-to-human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: evidence and practical experience

Chin Med. 2020 Jun 5:15:58. doi: 10.1186/s13020-020-00337-7. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Amir Hossein Mohseni¹, Sedigheh Taghinezhad-S¹, Zhigang Xu^{2

3}, Xiangsheng Fu¹

Affiliations

¹ Digestive Endoscopy Center, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Road Wenhua 63#, Region Shunqing, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000 China.
² Affiliated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Southwest Medical University Luzhou, Luzhou, 646000 China.
³ Red Cross Hospital of Wuhan City, Wuhan, 430015 China.

Abstract

Background: In December 2019, an unbelievable outbreak of pneumonia associated with coronavirus was reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province. This virus was called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although much effort has been spent on clarifying the transmission route of SARS-CoV-2, but, very little evidence is available regarding the relationship between human body fluids and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Considerable evidence from hospital in Wuhan indicates that strict rules to avoid occupational exposure to patients' body fluids in healthcare settings, particularly among every medical staff, limited person-to-person transmission of nosocomial infections by direct or indirect contact.

Conclusion: We tried to provide important information for understanding the possible transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 via body fluids including bronchoalveolar-lavage, saliva, blood, urine, feces, sputum, tears, and semen in order to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occurrences.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Prevention; SARS-CoV-2; Transmission.