Inactivation of Human Norovirus by Common Domestic Laundry Procedures

摘要

Today, noroviruses (NoV) are the world's most common cause of human gastroenteritis. Because of its low infectious dose and its ability to persist in the environment, the virus can be easily transmitted from person-to-person. In addition, surfaces like toilet seats, door handles or clothes worn by infected patients might serve as transmission vectors. Although environmental contamination plays a big role in the spread of the virus, little is known about how contaminated surfaces and textiles can be cleaned efficiently to prevent infections. To estimate the lifelike situation, textiles were contaminated with NoV-containing stool and washed in a normal household machine using laundry detergents with or without activated oxygen bleach at different temperatures. The obtained results show that a sufficient inactivation of NoV-contaminated fabric requires a washing temperature of at least 60 °C, even if a detergent with activated oxygen bleach is used.