SARS-CoV-2 is not found in the sweat of COVID-19 positive patients

Abstract

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus made a pandemic all over the world, its transmission routes became significant. Transmission from human to human is known, but other possible routes are not determined well. This study aimed to reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in sweat. This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care education and training hospital. Fifty patients were included in this study. Skin disinfection was done with an alcohol-based solution. Swabs for RT-PCR (real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) were taken from forehead and axilla skin after sweating patients for 30 min. After collection of sweat, swabs were placed into 2 ml of sterile viral transport medium, then transported quickly to the microbiology laboratory. No SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected in RT-PCR of forehead and axilla swabs. This study showed that there is no transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus via sweat. However, general precautions must be taken while doing interventional procedures.