All Surfaces Are Not Equal in Contact Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Xuan Xue; Jonathan K Ball; Cameron Alexander; Morgan R Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.matt.2020.10.006

All Surfaces Are Not Equal in Contact Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Matter. 2020 Nov 4;3(5):1433-1441. doi: 10.1016/j.matt.2020.10.006. Epub 2020 Oct 6.

Authors

Xuan Xue¹, Jonathan K Ball^{2

3

4}, Cameron Alexander⁵, Morgan R Alexander¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
² School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
³ Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
⁴ Centre for Research on Global Virus Infections, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
⁵ Division of Molecular Therapeutics and Formulation, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.

Abstract

The world faces a severe and acute public health emergency due to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Healthcare workers are in the front line of the COVID-19 outbreak response and are exposed to the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection daily. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is their main defense against viral contamination; gloves, visors, face masks, and gown materials are designed to eliminate viral transfer from infected patients. Here, we review research investigating the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and similar viruses on surfaces and highlight opportunities for materials that can actively reduce SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination and associated transmission and improve PPE.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; contact transfer; personal protective equipment; polymer; surface; virus.

Publication types

Review