Do we cause false positives? An experimental series on droplet or airborne SARS-CoV-2 contamination of sampling tubes during swab collection in a test center

The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic urged immense testing capacities as one cornerstone of infection control. Many institutions opened outpatient SARS-CoV-2 test centers to allow large number of tests in comparatively short time frames. With increasing positive test rates, conc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antimicrobial resistance & infection control 2021-03, Vol.10 (1), p.51-4, Article 51
Main Authors: Scheier, Thomas, Shah, Cyril, Huber, Michael, Sax, Hugo, Hasse, Barbara, Günthard, Huldrych F, Trkola, Alexandra, Schreiber, Peter W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosols
Air pollution
Contamination
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - diagnosis
COVID-19 Testing - methods
Disease control
Disease transmission
Drug resistance
Equipment Contamination - statistics & numerical data
False Positive Reactions
False-positive test results
Health aspects
Humans
Hygiene
Infection control
Masks
Medical supplies
Pandemics
Particulate Matter - analysis
Personal protective equipment
Polymerase Chain Reaction
SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Short Report
Specimen Handling - methods
Ventilation
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Summary:The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic urged immense testing capacities as one cornerstone of infection control. Many institutions opened outpatient SARS-CoV-2 test centers to allow large number of tests in comparatively short time frames. With increasing positive test rates, concerns for a possible airborne or droplet contamination of specimens leading to false-positive results were raised. In our experimental series performed in a dedicated SARS-CoV-2 test center, 40 open collection tubes placed for defined time periods in proximity to individuals were found to be SARS-CoV-2 negative. These findings argue against false-positive SARS-CoV-2 results due to droplet or airborne contamination.
ISSN:2047-2994
2047-2994
DOI:10.1186/s13756-021-00920-z