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Related Concept Videos

Transmission-based Precautions II: Airborne and Protective Environment01:25

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Transmission-based precautions are for patients infected or suspected to be infected (or colonized) with organisms posing a significant risk to others. The transmission precautions include airborne and protective environment precautions.
Airborne precautions:
Use airborne precautions when treating patients known or suspected to have diseases that spread through the air—for example, tuberculosis or measles. These organisms are present in smaller droplets expelled by an infected person and...
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Transmission-based Precautions I: Contact, Enteric, and Droplets01:17

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Transmission-based precautions are for patients known to be infected or suspected to be infected or colonized with organisms that pose a significant risk to others. Some transmission-based precautions include contact, enteric, and droplet.
Contact Precautions:
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Infection01:20

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When a pathogen enters the body and reproduces, it can cause an infection, damage body cells, and cause illness symptoms that eventually lead to disease. Therefore, its prevention requires breaking the chain of infection.
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Rous Sarcoma virus or RSV was discovered by F. Peyton Rous in the year 1911 as a filterable transmissible agent that could cause tumors in chickens. He won a Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1966. His experiments clearly demonstrated that some cancers could be caused by infectious agents and led to the discovery of many more cancer-causing viruses in animals as well as humans.
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Pulmonary Tuberculosis I01:29

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Tuberculosis, often called TB, is a contagious illness primarily caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It mainly affects the lung parenchyma but can also impact other body parts.
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Standard Precaution01:26

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Standard precautions are the minimum infection control safeguards used while caring for all patients, irrespective of their disease condition. They help prevent the spread of common infectious microorganisms to healthcare workers, patients, and visitors in all healthcare settings.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 7, 2025

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs
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SARS Wars: the Fomites Strike Back.

Emanuel Goldman1

  • 1Microbiology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, USA.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology
|May 1, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely to be a major driver of the pandemic. Studies showing virus survival on surfaces often lack real-world applicability, with infectious virus rarely detected on surfaces even in hospitals.

Keywords:
COVID-19SARS-CoV-2absence of fomite transmissionrespiratory viruses

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Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Concerns persist regarding the role of fomite transmission in the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
  • Recent research has highlighted potential virus survival on surfaces, fueling further debate on transmission routes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the significance of fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the context of the ongoing pandemic.
  • To assess the real-world relevance of laboratory findings on virus survival on environmental surfaces.

Main Methods:

  • Review and analysis of existing studies on SARS-CoV-2 survival on surfaces.
  • Comparison of laboratory-based virus survival data with real-world surface contamination findings.
  • Evaluation of the presence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 versus viral RNA on surfaces in clinical settings.

Main Results:

  • Laboratory studies demonstrating virus survival on surfaces often employ unrealistic conditions not applicable to real-life scenarios.
  • While viral RNA is frequently detected on surfaces, tests for infectious SARS-CoV-2 yield predominantly negative results.
  • Even in hospitals with high COVID-19 patient loads, infectious virus on surfaces is rarely identified.

Conclusions:

  • Fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is likely a very minor contributor to the overall pandemic spread.
  • Current evidence suggests that surface contamination plays a limited role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission compared to other routes.