Ehsan Gharehchahi; Fatemeh Dehghani; Ata Rafiee; Marzieh Jamalidoust; Mohammad Hoseini
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an immensely transmissible viral infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study aimed to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the indoor air, on the surfaces, and on the fomites of a COVID-19 referral ...
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Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an immensely transmissible viral infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study aimed to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the indoor air, on the surfaces, and on the fomites of a COVID-19 referral hospital in Shiraz, Iran.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, indoor air sampling was conducted utilizing a standard midget impinger containing 15 ml of viral transfer medium (VTM) equipped with a sampling pump with a flow rate of 10 L min-1 for 60 minutes. Surfaces and fomites were sampled using sterile polyester swabs. The realtime reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) was utilized to detect SARS-CoV-2.Results: The RNA of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in about 41.2% indoor air and 32% swab samples. Four out of the six (66.7%) indoor air samples up to a distance of 2 meters from the patient’s bed in intensive care units (ICU-1, ICU-3), accident and emergency (A&E-2), and negative pressure rooms were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. All air samples within 2 to 5 meters of the patient’s bed were negative.Conclusion: This study’s results did not support the airborne SARS-CoV-2 transmission; However, it showed contamination of surfaces and fomites in the studied hospital’s wards.
Mohammad Hoseini; Solmaz Aslan Pour; Gholam Hossein Safari
Abstract
Background: Health care waste (HCW) management is highly important and has received special attention from the authorities and people. Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the management of HCW in general and specialized hospitals of Tabriz, Iran. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional ...
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Background: Health care waste (HCW) management is highly important and has received special attention from the authorities and people. Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the management of HCW in general and specialized hospitals of Tabriz, Iran. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, field investigations were conducted on gathering data on HCW management activities using the WHO questionnaire including 100 questions through observation. Results: This study indicated that the total in-use beds in the studied hospitals were 3953 beds. The total amount of generating wastes in the hospitals was 13349.5 kg day-1, of which 10059 kg day-1 (75.4%) was general waste and the remaining 24.6% (3290.5 kg day-1) was categorized as medical waste. The medical waste was categorized further into infectious (3002.50 kg day-1), sharp (171.80 kg day-1), chemical (63.15 kg day-1), and pathological (52.55 kg day-1) wastes. In general and specialized hospitals, 56% and 31% of the waste separation was at a good level, respectively. The results showed that the chemical process (37.5%) was the mostly used method for the treatment of medical waste in the studied hospitals. Conclusions: Generally, the rate of waste generation in general hospitals was more than that in specialized hospitals. Higher waste generation in general hospitals can be due to the fact that in these hospitals the amount and diversity of the health services provided were more than specialized hospitals. Good separation of general wastes from medical ones, proper health waste management, and training of staff for correct segregation of wastes can lead to a reduction of treatment charges.