Gamble, A. , Fischer, R. J., Morris, D. H., Yinda, C. K., Munster, V. J., Lloyd-Smith, J. O. and Elkins, C. A. (2021) Heat-treated virus inactivation rate depends strongly on treatment procedure: illustration with SARS-CoV-2. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 87(19), e00314-21. (doi: 10.1128/AEM.00314-21) (PMID:34288702) (PMCID:PMC8432576)
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Abstract
Decontamination helps limit environmental transmission of infectious agents. It is required for the safe reuse of contaminated medical, laboratory, and personal protective equipment, and for the safe handling of biological samples. Heat treatment is a common decontamination method, notably used for viruses. We show that for liquid specimens (here, solution of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture medium), the virus inactivation rate under heat treatment at 70°C can vary by almost two orders of magnitude depending on the treatment procedure, from a half-life of 0.86 min (95% credible interval [CI] 0.09, 1.77) in closed vials in a heat block to 37.04 min (95% CI 12.64, 869.82) in uncovered plates in a dry oven. These findings suggest a critical role of evaporation in virus inactivation via dry heat. Placing samples in open or uncovered containers may dramatically reduce the speed and efficacy of heat treatment for virus inactivation. Given these findings, we reviewed the literature on temperature-dependent coronavirus stability and found that specimen container types, along with whether they are closed, covered, or uncovered, are rarely reported in the scientific literature. Heat-treatment procedures must be fully specified when reporting experimental studies to facilitate result interpretation and reproducibility, and must be carefully considered when developing decontamination guidelines.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Gamble, Dr Amandine |
| Authors: | Gamble, A., Fischer, R. J., Morris, D. H., Yinda, C. K., Munster, V. J., Lloyd-Smith, J. O., and Elkins, C. A. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine |
| Journal Name: | Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
| Publisher: | American Society for Microbiology |
| ISSN: | 0099-2240 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1098-5336 |
| Published Online: | 21 July 2021 |
| Data DOI: | 10.5281/zenodo.5102559 |
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