一项新的研究表明冠状病毒可以在表面存活多长时间

一项新的研究表明冠状病毒可以在表面存活多长时间

If the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV (now officially named COVID-19) is anything like its family members, a new study suggests it could survive on inanimate objects for well over a week.

如果新的冠状病毒2019-nCoV(现在正式命名为COVID-19)与其家庭成员有任何相似之处，一项新的研究表明，它可以在无生命的物体上存活一周以上。

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) it's "currently unclear if a person can get 2019-nCoV by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes."

根据美国疾病控制和预防中心(CDC)的说法，“目前还不清楚一个人是否可以通过触摸表面或上面有病毒的物体，然后触摸自己的嘴、鼻子，或者可能是眼睛来感染2019-nCoV。”

In fact, not a lot is known about COVID-19 at all, so researchers are turning to similar coronaviruses, like SARS and MERS, for answers.

事实上，人们对COVID-19知之甚少，因此研究人员正转向类似的冠状病毒，如SARS和MERS来寻找答案。

Reviewing the literature on all available human and veterinary viruses within this family, encompassing 22 studies, researchers have found that the human pathogens can persist on surfaces and remain infectious at room temperature for up to nine days. (To put that in perspective, the measles viruscan live on contaminated surfaces for up to two hours.)

研究人员回顾了关于这个家族中所有可用的人类和兽医病毒的文献，包括22项研究，发现人类病原体可以在表面持续存在，并在室温下保持传染性长达9天。(客观地说，麻疹病毒可以在受污染的表面上生活长达两个小时。)

Granted, that's the upper end of a coronavirus lifespan, but on average, researchers say this family of viruses can survive between four and five days on various materials like aluminium, wood, paper, plastic and glass.

诚然，这是冠状病毒寿命的上限，但研究人员表示，平均而言，这种病毒家族可以在铝、木材、纸张、塑料和玻璃等各种材料上存活4到5天。

Some of the veterinary coronaviruses - the ones that can only infect animals - could even persist for longer than 28 days.

一些兽医冠状病毒-那些只能感染动物的病毒-甚至可以持续28天以上。

"Low temperature and high air humidity further increase their lifespan," saysphysician Günter Kampf at the Greifswald University Hospital.

“低温和高空气湿度进一步延长了它们的寿命，”格雷夫斯瓦尔德大学医院的心理学家冈特·坎夫说。

To reduce the spread of coronaviruses in general, the authors of the new study suggest hospitals carefully disinfect surfaces with various solutions made from sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, or ethanol.

为了总体上减少冠状病毒的传播，这项新研究的作者建议医院用由次氯酸钠、过氧化氢或乙醇制成的各种溶液仔细消毒表面。

In their study, they found these particular WHO recommendations to be "very effective" against SARS and MERS.

在他们的研究中，他们发现世卫组织的这些特别建议对SARS和MERS“非常有效”。

The results were originally bound for a future textbook, but under the circumstances, the authors felt it was best to publish their findings in advance. They think the results might also extend to COVID-19.

这些结果原本是为将来的教科书所定的，但在这种情况下，作者认为最好提前公布他们的发现。他们认为，研究结果可能也适用于COVID-19.

"Different coronaviruses were analysed, and the results were all similar," saysvirologist Eike Steinmann form Leibniz University Hanover.

汉诺威莱布尼茨大学的病毒学家艾克·斯坦曼说:“对不同的冠状病毒进行了分析，结果都很相似。”

None of the viruses were COVID-19 however, and the team indicated they don't have data on whether hands can become contaminated with coronavirus after patient contact or after touching contaminated surfaces.

然而，这些病毒都不是covid19.而且研究小组表示，他们没有关于患者接触或接触污染表面后手部是否会被冠状病毒污染的数据。

While MERS doesn't transfer as easily from person to person as other coronaviruses, SARS spreads rather efficiently whenever an infected person sneezes or coughs. If the mucous lands on a surface and is touched by a person later, it can then contaminate them.

虽然中东呼吸综合征不像其他冠状病毒那样容易在人与人之间传播，但当感染者打喷嚏或咳嗽时，SARS的传播相当有效。如果黏液落在表面，随后被人接触，就会感染他们。

Given how threatening this could make COVID-19. washing our hands often and making sure to disinfect public areas seems like a harmless price to pay.

考虑到这可能会使COVID-19变得多么具有威胁性，经常洗手并确保对公共场所进行消毒似乎是一个无害的代价。

"In hospitals, these can be door handles, for example, but also call buttons, bedside tables, bed frames and other objects in the direct vicinity of patients, which are often made of metal or plastic," explains Kampf.

“例如，在医院里，这些可以是门把手，也可以是呼叫按钮、床头柜、床框和其他直接靠近患者的物品，它们通常是由金属或塑料制成的，”坎普夫解释说。