According to an American study, objects are not transmission media for SARS-CoV-2. In other words, it might be useless to frantically clean door handles or our offices with bleach or hydroalcoholic gel.
- According to a recent American study, the risk of being contaminated with Covid-19 through an object or a surface would ultimately be low.
- This discovery is explained by the protective action of mucin, a protein secreted by the mucous membranes.
Will you get sick if you touch the same object as someone infected with Covid-19? If this idea has been widely accepted since the start of the pandemic, American researchers from the University of Utah are however questioning it.
According to their study published last February in the journal ACS Central Scienceit is a protein produced by our mucous membranes which would allow this protective action. The protein in question is mucin, naturally secreted by our mucous membranes. Its role is to fix pathogens in a kind of viscous envelope called glycan, which corresponds to a molecule composed (among others) of glucose and which traps pathogens.
However, when postilions are expelled on tables, desks, door handles or other everyday objects, the water they contain evaporates and the protection of the mucin against the pathogens of the coronavirus is reinforced. “Mucins are intimately linked to viral transmission. Mucin and virus-laden particles can be expelled from the mouth and nose and then infect other people. Viruses must also pass through the mucus layer before entering the cells and replicate”explain the authors of the study.
Much lower risks than previously thought
The latter carried out work on bovine species carrying SARS-CoV-2. The objective was to study the transmission scenarios by surface and by direct contact to determine their dependence on mucins and their structure. “We found that bovine mucins could inhibit infection of live cells in a concentration- and glycan-dependent manner”say the scientists.
In other words, this means that the chances of contracting Covid-19 after touching a surface contaminated with the virus would be low. At least according to this study!
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