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Comparison of Airborne SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Pre-Delta Variants Around Infected Patients

Fraenkel, Carl-Johan LU orcid ; Thuresson, Sara LU orcid ; Medstrand, Patrik LU orcid ; Alsved, Malin LU orcid and Löndahl, Jakob LU orcid (2025) In Journal of Medical Virology 97(2).
Abstract

Transmissibility has increased during the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, possibly by improved airborne transmission. An increased transmission was noted also in many hospitals. We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 in room air of hospitalized Omicron infected patients and compared results with previous findings with pre-Delta variants to study if SARS-CoV-2 was more prevalent in patient rooms after the introduction of Omicron. Only 4 of 75 (5%) air samples, from 3 of 43 included patients, were positive during the early Omicron wave, compared to 14/120 (12%), from 10 of 60 included patients during the initial wave. No certain statistical difference between virus variants could be established, but the tendency was a lower occurrence at Omicron infected... (More)

Transmissibility has increased during the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, possibly by improved airborne transmission. An increased transmission was noted also in many hospitals. We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 in room air of hospitalized Omicron infected patients and compared results with previous findings with pre-Delta variants to study if SARS-CoV-2 was more prevalent in patient rooms after the introduction of Omicron. Only 4 of 75 (5%) air samples, from 3 of 43 included patients, were positive during the early Omicron wave, compared to 14/120 (12%), from 10 of 60 included patients during the initial wave. No certain statistical difference between virus variants could be established, but the tendency was a lower occurrence at Omicron infected patients, also when adjusting for relevant confounders. These finding do not support the initial hypothesis that increased SARS-CoV-2 aerosol emission from diagnosed patients with Omicron could explain any increased risk of hospital transmission.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Humans, COVID-19/transmission, SARS-CoV-2/genetics, Male, Female, Air Microbiology, Middle Aged, Aged, Adult, Aerosols
in
Journal of Medical Virology
volume
97
issue
2
article number
e70258
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • pmid:39977450
  • scopus:85218444457
ISSN
1096-9071
DOI
10.1002/jmv.70258
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Medical Virology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
id
b0c2ec3e-c1f0-4570-a0f4-2cccd39418df
date added to LUP
2025-02-21 09:07:45
date last changed
2025-06-02 06:57:46
@article{b0c2ec3e-c1f0-4570-a0f4-2cccd39418df,
  abstract     = {{<p>Transmissibility has increased during the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, possibly by improved airborne transmission. An increased transmission was noted also in many hospitals. We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 in room air of hospitalized Omicron infected patients and compared results with previous findings with pre-Delta variants to study if SARS-CoV-2 was more prevalent in patient rooms after the introduction of Omicron. Only 4 of 75 (5%) air samples, from 3 of 43 included patients, were positive during the early Omicron wave, compared to 14/120 (12%), from 10 of 60 included patients during the initial wave. No certain statistical difference between virus variants could be established, but the tendency was a lower occurrence at Omicron infected patients, also when adjusting for relevant confounders. These finding do not support the initial hypothesis that increased SARS-CoV-2 aerosol emission from diagnosed patients with Omicron could explain any increased risk of hospital transmission.</p>}},
  author       = {{Fraenkel, Carl-Johan and Thuresson, Sara and Medstrand, Patrik and Alsved, Malin and Löndahl, Jakob}},
  issn         = {{1096-9071}},
  keywords     = {{Humans; COVID-19/transmission; SARS-CoV-2/genetics; Male; Female; Air Microbiology; Middle Aged; Aged; Adult; Aerosols}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of Medical Virology}},
  title        = {{Comparison of Airborne SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Pre-Delta Variants Around Infected Patients}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmv.70258}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/jmv.70258}},
  volume       = {{97}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}