Grau Cerrato, SantiagoFerrández, OliviaEcheverría Esnal, DanielMaldonado, Rafael, 1961-Puig, BertaRamirez, AidaCanal, MireiaMontero, AlbertGonzález, CristinaHerranz, MilagrosMasclans Enviz, Joan RamonHorcajada Gallego, Juan PabloPadilla, Eduardo2022-03-182022-03-182021Grau S, Ferrández O, Echevarría-Esnal D, Maldonado R, Puig B, Ramirez A. et al. SARS-CoV-2 could be spread through hospital medication dispensed to patients: a prospective observational study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Nov 12;100(45):e27592. DOI: 10.1097/MD.00000000000275920025-7974http://hdl.handle.net/10230/52717Our objective was to analyze in vitro the persistence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the packaging material of the drugs dispensed to hospital wards. Additionally, to evaluate if the protection with a double plastic bag prevents the contamination of the medication dispensed to an intensive care unit (ICU).On the first part, different materials containing different drugs within an ICU were sampled to confirm the lack of contamination by SARS-CoV-2. The confirmation of the virus was performed using real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. As a control group, in the microbiology laboratory we inoculated the virus into the different surfaces containing the same drugs included in the first part. Samples were obtained with a sterile swab at 3, 6, 8, 10, 14, 21, and 30 days after inoculation and analyzed through real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.None of the studied materials containing the drugs within an ICU was contaminated by SARS-CoV-2. In the second part, SARS-CoV-2 was found in all surfaces for up to 30 days.The use of double-bag unit-dose system to deliver medication in a pandemic seems effective to prevent the potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2. A striking SARS-CoV-2 RNA stability of up to 30 days was found in the surfaces containing the drugs.application/pdfeng© 2021 Santiago Grau et al. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License 4.0 (CCBY-NC), where it is permissible to download, share, remix, transform, and buildup the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be used commercially without permission from the journalCOVID-19 (Malaltia)RespiracióMedicaments -- Administracióinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000027592info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess