SARS-CoV-2 Survival in Relation to Temperature and Humidity and Potential for Seasonality
SARS-CoV-2 Survival in Relation to Temperature and Humidity and Potential for Seasonality. Spencer EA, Heneghan C, Jefferson T.
https://www.cebm.net/study/covid-19-sars-cov-2-survival-in-relation-to-temperature-and-humidity-and-potential-for-seasonality/
Published on June 8, 2020
Included in
Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19
| Reference |
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020 Rapid Expert Consultation on SARS-CoV-2 Survival in Relation to Temperature and Humidity and Potential for Seasonality for the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 7, 2020). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2020 |
| Study type |
|
| Country |
Worldwide |
| Setting |
|
| Funding Details |
Not clear |
| Transmission mode |
Meteorological |
| Exposures |
Temperature and Humidity |
Bottom Line
Evidence suggests reduced transmission in high ambient temperatures and humidity, but it is limited and inconsistent.
Evidence Summary
Some evidence suggests high temperatures and humidity can slow the transmission rate. The authors note that “Given the lack of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 across the world if there is an effect of temperature and humidity on transmission, it may not be as apparent as with other respiratory viruses for which there is at least some preexisting partial immunity”
What did they do?
This is a short report described as a rapid expert assessment, in which published and unpublished laboratory and ecological studies are reviewed. A protocol, a search strategy and a quality appraisal are not included.
Included published studies:
- Chin et al. Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in different environmental conditions. Lancet Microbe 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30003-3
- Qi et al. 2020. COVID-19 transmission in Mainland China is associated with temperature and humidity: A time-series analysis https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.30.20044099
- Wang et al. 2020. High temperature and high humidity reduce the transmission of COVID-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3551767.
- Ficetola and Rubolini. 2020. Climate affects global patterns of COVID-19 early outbreak dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.23.20040501
- Islam et al. 2020. Temperature, humidity, and wind speed are associated with lower COVID-19 incidence. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.27.20045658
- Sajadi et al. 2020. Temperature, humidity and latitude analysis to predict potential spread and seasonality for COVID-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3550308
- Notari. 2020. Temperature dependence of COVID-19 transmission. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.26.20044529
- Luo et al. 2020. The role of absolute humidity on transmission rates of the COVID-19 outbreak. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.12.20022467
Study reliability
This is a description of published work with some other unpublished studies via personal communication; it is not a systemic collection of studies. There is no search strategy or quality assessment included.
| Clearly defined setting |
Demographic characteristics described |
Follow-up length was sufficient |
Transmission outcomes assessed |
Main biases are taken into consideration |
|
No |
No |
Unclear |
Unclear
|
Unclear |
What else should I consider?
This is a short report reviewing some published and unpublished studies. The lack of a systematic approach to the search for studies and the lack of quality assessment limits the conclusions. The authors note that many studies should be interpreted with caution due to the limited time during which experiments have taken place.
About the authors
Carl Heneghan
Carl is Professor of EBM & Director of CEBM at the University of Oxford. He is also a GP and tweets @carlheneghan. He has an active interest in discovering the truth behind health research findings
Elizabeth Spencer
Dr Elizabeth Spencer; MMedSci, PhD. Epidemiologist, Nuffield Department for Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.
Tom Jefferson
Tom Jefferson, epidemiologist.
