Experts already know that Omicron is the most transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant, but a new study has found that it survives longer than any previous variant on plastic surfaces and skin.
According to the new study, Omicron lasts on plastic for nearly 200 hours and on skin for about 21 hours.
How Infections Spread
Germs are a part of everyday life and are found in our air, soil, water, and in and on our bodies. Some germs are helpful, others are harmful. Many germs live in and on our bodies without causing harm and some even help us to stay healthy. Only a small portion of germs are known to cause infection.An infection occurs when germs enter the body, increase in number, and cause a reaction of the body.
Three things are necessary for an infection to occur: a source where infectious agents (germs) live (e.g., sinks, surfaces, human skin), a susceptible person with a way for germs to enter the body and a transmission.
A source is an infectious agent or germ and refers to a virus, bacteria, or other microbe. In healthcare settings, germs are found in many places. People are one source of germs including: patients, healthcare workers, visitors and household members. People can be sick with symptoms of an infection or colonized with germs (not have symptoms of an infection but able to pass the germs to others).
Germs are also found in the healthcare environment. Examples of environmental sources of germs include dry surfaces in patient care areas (e.g., bed rails, medical equipment, countertops, and tables) and wet surfaces, moist environments, and biofilms (e.g., cooling towers, faucets and sinks, and equipment such as ventilators).
Environmental sources also include indwelling medical devices (e.g., catheters and IV lines) and dust or decaying debris (e.g., construction dust or wet materials from water leaks).
Role of Fomites in Viral Disease Transmission
Worldwide annually there are 1.7 million deaths from diarrheal diseases and 1.5 million deaths from respiratory infections. Viruses cause an estimated 60% of human infections, and most common illnesses are produced by respiratory and enteric viruses. Unlike bacterial disease, viral illness cannot be resolved with the use of antibiotics. Prevention and management of viral disease heavily relies upon vaccines and antiviral medications. Both vaccines and antiviral medications are only 60% effective.
Control of viral disease spread requires a clear understanding of how viruses are transmitted in the environment.
Over the years studies have changed the perspective on viral transmission to include a more complex multifactorial model of disease spread. There is now growing evidence that contaminated fomites or surfaces play a key role in the spread of viral infections. Viral transmission is dependent on interaction with the host as well as interaction with the environment.
Fomites consist of both porous and nonporous surfaces or objects that can become contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and serve as vehicles in transmission. During and after illness, viruses are shed in large numbers in body secretions, including blood, feces, urine, saliva, and nasal fluid.
Fomites become contaminated with virus by direct contact with body secretions or fluids, contact with soiled hands, contact with aerosolized virus (large droplet spread) generated via talking, sneezing, coughing, or vomiting, or contact with airborne virus that settles after disturbance of a contaminated fomite (i.e., shaking a contaminated blanket).
Once a fomite is contaminated, the transfer of infectious virus may readily occur between inanimate and animate objects, or vice versa, and between two separate fomites (if brought together).
Virus survival on fomites is influenced by intrinsic factors which include fomite properties or virus characteristics and extrinsic factors, including environmental temperature, humidity, etc. After contact with the host is achieved, viruses can gain entry into the host systems through portals of entry or contact with the mouth, nasopharynx, and eyes.
Environmental Stability
The Omicron variant survives longer on plastic surfaces and skin than other COVID variants, increasing the likelihood of it spreading through touch.
Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants exhibited more than two-fold longer survival times than those of the Wuhan strain and maintained infectivity for more than 16 hours on the skin surfaces. The high environmental stability of these VOCs [variants of concern] could increase the risk of contact transmission and contribute to the spread of VOCs.
Omicron on Plastic
According to the study, when on plastic: the original version of SARS-CoV-2 survives for 56 hours, the Alpha variant survives for 191.3 hours, the Beta variant survives for 156.6 hours, the Gamma variant survives for 59.3 hours, the Delta variant survives for 114 hours and the Omicron variant outlasts the other variants, surviving for 193.5 hours.
The highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2 has led to several studies on the transmission of the virus. A little studied potential fomite of great concern in the community is currency, which has been shown to harbor microbial pathogens in several studies. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have limited the use of banknotes in favor of credit cards.
However, SARS-CoV-2 has shown greater stability on plastic in several studies. In vitro studies with live virus suggested SARS-CoV-2 was highly unstable on banknotes, showing an initial rapid reduction in viable virus and no viral detection by 24 hours. In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 displayed increased stability on money cards with live virus detected after 48 hours.
Omicron on Skin
It was found that the different variants of the virus survive on the skin of cadavers for differing durations. The original version of SARS-CoV-2 survives for 8.6 hours, the Alpha variant survives for 19.6 hours, the Beta variant survives for 19.1 hours, the Gamma variant survives for 11 hours, the Delta variant survives for 16.8 hours and the Omicron variant again outlasts the other variants, surviving for 21.1 hours.
The reasons for the prolonged Omicron survival time are currently unknown. The relationship between the amount of virus remaining on the surface and the risk of transmission is still unclear at this stage. It is best to consider the survival time for a variant primarily as a reference value until scientists understand more.
Infectious Surfaces
The majority of Omicron infections are most likely to occur via airborne particles. Even if the Omicron and Delta variants have more environmental stability than prior versions of SARS-CoV-2, surface transmission still plays a relatively minor role in the transmission of the virus.
If surfaces do play a role in transmission, it’s also likely that some are riskier than others.
Be particularly wary of objects that have been in contact with someone’s mouth or nose, such as used facemasks, crockery and cutlery - if you touch them, be sure to wash your hands afterwards. And if someone in your household has COVID-19, or if you’re working in a hospital or other workplace where people could be infected, frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, handrails, toilet flushes and hand towels might be more likely to harbour the virus, so be mindful of them and ensure they’re frequently disinfected or replaced.
While it’s possible that respiratory droplets could land on surfaces and objects, and that someone could become infected by touching them, this is not thought to be a common way that COVID-19 spreads.
Surfaces contaminated with microorganisms can serve as reservoirs of potential pathogens. Many of these microorganisms are continuously shed or spread by direct skin contact onto surrounding environment surfaces. Contamination of surfaces, including high-touch surfaces in the room (e.g., bedrails, over-bed tables, and call-buttons) and reusable patient care equipment that is moved between rooms, can lead to transmission to the next patient who occupies the room or uses the same equipment, or contamination of the hands or clothing of healthcare personnel with transmission to other patients.
Tips to Avoid COVID-19 from Surfaces
There are simple ways to minimize the risk of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a surface.
Wash your hands a lot. Your hands are the mechanism that would bring any germs from surfaces to your face (and into your body). And so the hands are really the vehicle that you need to think about. Washing your hands with soap for 20 seconds kills the virus that causes COVID-19.
Therefore, even if the virus is on that package you brought into your house, as long as you thoroughly wash your hands after you handle it, you’ve killed and eliminated the virus. Just be careful not to touch your face or any other surface before you wash up.It’s important to wash your hands as soon as you come home from running errands or other activities in public.
Use household disinfectant often.
A good rule of thumb is to assume that any surface could be contaminated with germs. Any surface can be contaminated with coronavirus. In most household disinfectants, the active ingredients are antimicrobial, which is effective against coronavirus. In other words, nearly any household cleaner can easily kill the virus that causes COVID-19.
Coronaviruses are much easier to kill than noroviruses (the virus that causes what’s often called the stomach flu).
Make it a habit to regularly clean doorknobs, cabinet handles, sink faucets and light switches with a disinfectant. And don’t forget high-touch areas such as tables, chairs and countertops, as well as phones, keyboards and TV remote controls.
Pay attention to where you place items. Be mindful of where you put your mail and packages. Are you placing them on the same counter where you’ll be making a salad for dinner? Or maybe you’re putting your grocery bags on the kitchen counter to unload them. Disinfect the kitchen counter before you start preparing food on it.
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