Stability and inactivation of hepatitis A virus on inanimate surfaces.

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is one of the leading causes of viral hepatitis with an estimated 159 million acute infections annually. The primary route of transmission is faecal-oral through contaminated drinking water and food. Limited data regarding its surface stability and sensitivity to surface disinfectants are available. Implementing effective disinfectants could have a significant impact on the prevention of HAV transmission.

AIM: To evaluate HAV stability and sensitivity to surface disinfectants based on an established carrier assay.

METHODS

The stability of HAV on stainless steel discs was evaluated over a period of 60 days and its sensitivity to different commercially available surface disinfectants. Steel-disc carriers were inoculated with HAV particles and incubated over a respective period. Furthermore, HAV resistance against several groups of disinfectant agents were tested with varying concentrations and exposure times according to the manufacturers' guidelines.

FINDINGS: HAV was recoverable from stainless steel discs for up to 40 days with an estimated half-life of 18.63 days. The evaluation of several surface disinfectants showed that, except for the aldehyde-based products, all other products insufficiently inactivated HAV.

CONCLUSION

Overall, HAV demonstrated a high resistance to a wide range of the tested surface disinfectants. Out of the nine surface disinfectants evaluated, only two aldehyde-based products demonstrated a reduction in viral titre below the limit of detection. These findings have strong implications for the recommendation of evidence-based hygiene guidelines to reduce HAV transmission.