Stability and infectivity of coronaviruses in inanimate environments.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Review summarizing bench-level and in vitro experimental studies of viral persistence on surfaces.
PubMed 32368532 · doi:10.12998/wjcc.v8.i8.1391
What was done
Authors conducted a systematic search on Medline without language restrictions to summarize experimental evidence on the persistence and duration of coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses across various inanimate surface materials.
What was found
Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces ranged from minutes to up to one month depending on environmental conditions. Most respiratory viruses (coronaviruses, influenza, SARS-CoV, or rhinovirus) persisted on surfaces for a few days, while common coronaviruses could persist for up to one month. SARS-CoV-2 remained infectious in the air of closed, unventilated buses for at least 30 minutes. Coronaviruses in respiratory or fecal specimens maintained infectivity at room temperature. Absorbent materials (such as cotton) were safer than non-absorbent materials, and transmission risk from touching contaminated paper was reported as low.
Why it matters
Synthesizing viral environmental stability informs public health measures, hygiene practices, and surface disinfection protocols during epidemic management.
Limits
The abstract does not report the number of included studies (n), specific quantitative decay rates, viral titer thresholds, or precise environmental variables (such as relative humidity and temperature). In vitro viral persistence does not directly measure the probability of clinical transmission to humans.
Cited by
- contradicts Viruses can only be transmitted between humans through physical touch and cannot survive outside the human body.