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Coronavirus: a year later, the myth falls that clothing, products and surfaces should be disinfected

2021-02-28T21:40:25.800Z


Several studies question the transmission of the virus through objects. For experts, the important thing is to keep wearing a mask, keep your distance and wash your hands.


Gonzalo herman

02/28/2021 18:22

  • Clarín.com

  • Society

Updated 02/28/2021 6:22 PM

The tests of contagion by surfaces were always in doubt, but still,

after a year of pandemic

and everything that is already known about the coronavirus, resources are still being spent on these measures that offer a false sense of security.

It would be necessary to clean, of course, for a hygiene question.

But there are more and more studies that indicate that it is not necessary to disinfect everything to prevent covid.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a guide on cleaning and disinfection of surfaces in which it gives recommendations.

At the beginning of the document, he clarifies that so far, "transmission through contaminated surfaces was not

conclusively

proven

by the available studies."

In the same vein, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (CDC for its acronym in English) clarifies that "the transmission of coronavirus to people by contact with surfaces contaminated with the virus has not been documented" .

But he also points out that “current evidence seems to indicate that SARS-CoV-2 can remain for hours or days on surfaces” and, therefore,

recommends disinfecting surfaces as a “measure to prevent COVID-19”.

Miriam Bruno, head of infectology at Durand hospital, talks about this point.

"It is an intermediate thing. The most important thing is to wear a mask and clean your hands. Although it is not entirely ruled out that surfaces do not transmit the virus,

today we know that contagion through contact with the surface is more remote."

Bruno, on the other hand, recommends not being completely careless.

"It is important that people know that the risk of infecting is there. Because if we say that they do not infect, people are very neglected. However, we must accept that it is not what we believed at the beginning of last year, when there was an exaggerated care with the surfaces.

Today we know that it is not necessary to disinfect everything as it was done before.

It is not necessary to take off shoes to enter the house, or to bathe every time we go out or to disinfect clothes, shoes or fruits and vegetables ".

Urban disinfection, an image known to all.

On this, the infectologist said that "it is important to wash the fruits and vegetables as was always done but it is exaggerated to disinfect them with Lysoform or disinfect the bags.

That is not necessary." 

He also clarified that it is already known that the coronavirus is in the microdroplets that are thrown into the air when we cough or sneeze.

"There is no evidence that the virus is transmitted through skin or perspiration." 

For his part, biologist Emanuel Goldman, a professor at Rutgers University (New Jersey, United States) explained that

there is "little evidence" that objects and surfaces are transmission routes

, so that "efforts" should be put on

the correct use of chinstraps and ventilation, although they did not discourage cleaning and hand hygiene.

"Little or nothing. Only two or three possible cases in the scientific literature, but even these are not proven," replied Goldman, professor of microbiology at the Rutgers School of Medicine when asked about the evidence of contagion of the coronavirus by fomites or transmission by an

"infected surface".

Already in July 2020, Goldman wrote an article in the British scientific journal The Lancet in which he warned that "a clinically significant risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by fomites (surfaces or inanimate objects) has been assumed on

the basis of studies that bear little resemblance to real-life scenarios

. "

In addition, he made a review of the studies that had shown that the virus could survive two and up to six days on some surfaces, which for the specialist, was the product of two factors: a very high virus inoculum and special laboratory conditions for its conservation.

"I am not discussing the findings of these studies, only the applicability to real life," he noted.

"Finding the RNA of the virus is usually the same as finding the corpse of the virus. It is what the virus leaves after 'dying'. All it means is that the virus was there once, but is no longer 'alive' (capable of infect). This is a fragile virus that dies quickly in the environment and when it dries. Sunlight kills it almost immediately. Virtually all tests for live viruses (infectious) when viral RNA was found have been negative "Goldman explained.

Source: clarin

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