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Interruption of Rotavirus Spread Through Chemical Disinfection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Syed A. Sattar ,
Heather Jacobsen ,
Hasina Rahman ,
Timothy M. Cusack  and
Joseph R. Rubino
Syed A. Sattar*
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Heather Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Hasina Rahman
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Timothy M. Cusack
Affiliation:
L & F Products, Montvale, New Jersey
Joseph R. Rubino
Affiliation:
L & F Products, Montvale, New Jersey
*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8M5
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Abstract

Introduction:

Rotaviruses, which are among the most important infectious causes of acute diarrhea, frequently cause outbreaks in hospitals, daycare centers, schools, and nursing homes. These viruses can remain viable on inanimate surfaces for many days and infectious rotavirus particles have been recovered from hands and a variety of surfaces and objects. Casual contact can lead to the transfer of these viruses from contaminated to clean surfaces. Therefore, animate and inanimate surfaces may play a complementary role in the spread of these viruses.

Objective:

In this study, we compared the capacity of a disinfectant spray (0.1% o-phenylphenol and 79% ethanol), a domestic bleach (6% sodium hypochlorite diluted to give 800 ppm free chlorine), a quaternary ammonium (quat)-based product (7.05% quat diluted 1:128 in tap water), and a phenol-based product (14.7% phenol diluted 1:256 in tap water) to interrupt the transfer of a human rotavirus (DS-1) from stainless steel disks to fingerpads of volunteers with a 10-second contact at a pressure of 1 kg/cm2.

Design:

Each disk received a 10 μL inoculum containing 1.0 × 104 to 7.0 × 104 plaque-forming units (PFU) of the virus suspended in 10% feces. The inoculum was dried for 1 hour and overlaid with 20 μL of either tap water or the test product.

Results:

A 10-minute exposure to tap water reduced the virus titer by 52.3% ± 11.7%. The disinfectant spray was able to reduce virus infectivity by >99.99% after a contact of 3 to 10 minutes. The loss in virus infectivity after a 10-minute treatment with the quat was almost the same (54.7% ± 17.8%) as seen with tap water. The activities of the bleach and the phenolic were very similar with losses in PFU of 97.9% ± 0.4% and 95% ± 5.36%, respectively. No detectable virus was transferred to fingerpads from disks treated with disinfectant spray, the bleach, and the phenolic. Contact of the fingerpads with tap water- or quat-treated disks resulted in the transfer of 5.6% ± 1.1% and 7.6% ± 2.5% of the remaining infectious virus, respectively.

Conclusion:

These findings emphasize the care needed in the selection of environmental surface disinfectants in preventing the spread of rotaviral infections.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 15 , Issue 12 , December 1994 , pp. 751 - 756
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1994

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