Infection Control News – New COVID Detection Method

In the world of infection control, new news breaks all the time. Whether it’s new cases, pathogens, or in this case, new research. COVID-19, the pathogen that caused a worldwide pandemic and forever changed the way we operate. Studies show that while we’ve entered our new norm, COVID is here to stay. And I think everyone can agree, that it’s long overstayed its welcome. That means that everyday, countless hours of research are being done to find new ways to detect and combat the virus. While it’s far from wholly eradicated, the fight is always being tipped more and more in our favor. As more results come to light. For example, research published by CUBE, (Coronavirus in the Built Urban Environment) showed that on their efforts of environmental surveillance of the virus, they deducted a new way to help track and possibly even predict future cases of the virus.

The News

Like we mentioned before, with the pandemic still present in our lives, the research has yet to stop. Which means that with each passing day, there are more and more ideas thrown around about how to combat and predict the virus’ next move. The researchers at CUBE have been conducting environmental surveillance on the virus after the advent of the pandemic. Wastewater surveillance became a popular way to track the virus with CUBE. But recently, they came across another way to possibly find spikes in new cases: floor swabbing. 

In their most recent study conducted in Ontario, researchers from CUBE swabbed the floors of hospitals. Areas where healthcare worker traffic would be relatively high. Places like change rooms, meeting rooms, bathrooms and the like. When swabbing high-traffic areas, they found a strong association of COVID viral matter on the floor, and spikes in outbreaks in the hospital.

They found that for every 10-fold increase of virus on the floor, there was a 15-fold increase of patient cases. Which also lead to a conclusion of a 22-fold higher odds of an outbreak. These results showed that their newfound method of floor swabbing could help project a more accurate picture to monitor the virus. Which in turn, means that they can better identify and inform on a potential outbreak and set proper infection control and prevention methods beforehand. The perfect preemptive strike.

Dr. Caroline Nott, an Infectious Disease Physician and principal investigators of CUBE, had this to say on their findings:

“To be clear, COVID-19 is not spreading via the floor,” reassures Nott. “It is extremely rare to catch COVID-19 from any surface. Rather, what we are seeing in our floor swabs is a reflection of the burden of infection in the humans occupying the environment where we are swabbing. So if we start seeing an increase in the amount of virus we are finding on the floor, it could be a signal that additional cases and potentially outbreaks are on the way. This kind of early warning may help the hospital prepare and take preventative measures.”

That begs the question though, why would the amount of viral matter on the floor reflect the patient population in a hospital?

Dr. Micahel Fralick, Clinician Scientist at Sinai Health and another CUBE principal investigator, took to answering that question: “COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. It spreads via droplets and aerosols, which can travel a relatively long distance before falling to the floor.” He continued to say; “We focused on healthcare worker areas mainly for pragmatic reasons: those areas are more straightforward to access and do not disrupt direct patient care, which are important considerations if an approach like this were to be implemented.”

Their study was performed over a 39-week time period between July 2022 and March 2023. There were a total of 760 floor swabs collected that were processed for the SARS-Cov-2 cells. And they used the results to evaluate model outbreak discrimination. If you’d like to read the full article and the study published, you can find the link here.

A Solution for You

While it may come down to swabbing floors and predicting the next wave of cases, you’ll need something to help keep your air clean in the meantime. As humans, we produce aerosol droplets, which pose a huge threat. Aerosol droplets can remain suspended in the air like smoke, travel up to 2 meters in poorly ventilated areas and linger for hours on end. And while it may be hard to keep the outdoor regions under control during the spread, you can definitely guarantee a safe indoor area. That is where the OSO Pure products come in to play.

The OSO Pure ADP-70 Air Disinfecting Purifier and the ADP-V Air Disinfecting Purifier-Ventilation are sanitizing devices that circulate ozone to purify the practice’s air and surfaces. They utilize a proven technology commonly used in hospital HVAC systems called Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO). These charged ions, referred to as Hydroxyl Radicals (HO), are powerful oxidizers that destroy particles as small as .001 microns.

They render bacteria, viruses, mold, and mildew harmless, as well as the following:

• Pathogens – Bacteria & virus
• Particulates – Dust & Allergens
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) – Resins & Formaldehydes
• Chemically Active Compounds (CAC) – Solvents & Compounds

The ADP-70 can be used anywhere infection control Is warranted, like patient waiting areas, break rooms, lab processing, common areas and so on and is even pet safe. It eliminates odor and reduces pathogens in workplaces. So if you’d like to learn more or purchase one for yourself, you can find them on our website here. We also have an article on the OSO Pure ADP-70 you can read here on our website.

Final Thoughts

While the harshest portion of the pandemic is in the back mirror, keeping our infection control practices in check is still hugely paramount. Just because we’re not in lockdown anymore does not excuse a lack of proper practice. Illnesses and even deaths resulting from COVID are still present even after we’ve done so much to fight it. So our only way out is to keep up the fight and get as many wins as we can. And while organizations are finding new ways to do so, you too can better protect your practice by following the proper guidelines.

Luckily, we here at SAS are able to give you as much help as we can with various resources and products to help research and contain the threat of COVID-19. so if you’d like to read more infection control news or resources about the fight against COVID, check out the news tab on our website. We have various articles that go over news, updates, and proper practice of infection control within the medical setting. Or if you have questions about any of our products that can help combat the spread, give us a call at 704-966-1650.

As always if you have any questions about this process or anything else please feel free to contact us and take advantage of our “FREE TECH SUPPORT.”

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You can also use our “FREE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM”. Take the guesswork and worrying about what unit is due for maintenance and which maintenance cycle it is time for. We will keep track of all your autoclaves and let you know when it’s time for anything.