November 30, 2020

Outdoor Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Respiratory Viruses, a Systematic Review

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

Keywords (Tags): transmission

A systematic review assessing the risk of transmission of respiratory viruses in outdoor versus indoor settings found that overall risk is lower outdoors, but there are gaps in the evidence. Five studies showed that few reported global SARS-CoV-2 infections have occurred outdoors (<10%) and the odds of indoor transmission was much higher (18.7 times, 95% CI 6.0-57.9). Seven other studies evaluated outdoor transmission of influenza (n=5) or adenoviruses (n=2) and found heterogeneity in study quality and definitions of outdoor settings. Factors generally associated with infection outdoors included duration and frequency of personal contact, lack of PPE, and occasional indoor gathering during an outdoor event.

Bulfone et al. (Nov 29, 2020). Outdoor Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Respiratory Viruses, a Systematic Review. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa742