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. 2021 Mar;70(3):001328.
doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.001328. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air

Piero Di Carlo  1   2 , Katia Falasca  3   4 , Claudio Ucciferri  3   4 , Bruna Sinjari  1 , Eleonora Aruffo  1   2 , Ivana Antonucci  2   5 , Alessandra Di Serafino  2   5 , Arianna Pompilio  2   6 , Verena Damiani  2 , Domitilla Mandatori  2 , Simone De Fabritiis  2 , Beatrice Dufrusine  2 , Emily Capone  7 , Piero Chiacchiaretta  7 , William H Brune  8 , Giovanni Di Bonaventura  2   6 , Jacopo Vecchiet  3   4
Affiliations

Normal breathing releases SARS-CoV-2 into the air

Piero Di Carlo et al. J Med Microbiol. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

This study tests the release of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into the air during normal breathing, without any sign of possible risk of contagion such as coughing, sneezing or talking. Five patients underwent oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs for real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Direct SARS-CoV-2 release during normal breathing was also investigated by RT-PCR in air samples collected using a microbiological sampler. Viral RNA was detected in air at 1 cm from the mouth of patients whose oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In contrast, the viral RNA was not identified in the exhaled air from patients with oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and salivary swabs that tested negative. Contagion of SARS-CoV-2 is possible by being very close to the mouth of someone who is infected, asymptomatic and simply breathing.

Keywords: Aerosol; CoViD-19; Infection; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2 RNA; Viral RNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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