Ahlfeld Birte, Li Yangfang, Boulaaba Annika, Binder Alfred, Schotte Ulrich, Zimmermann Julia L, Morfill Gregor, Klein Günter
Institute of Food Quality and Food Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany.
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany.
mBio. 2015 Jan 13;6(1):e02300-14. doi: 10.1128/mBio.02300-14.
Human norovirus (NoV) is the most frequent cause of epidemic nonbacterial acute gastroenteritis worldwide. We investigated the impact of nonthermal or cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) on the inactivation of a clinical human outbreak NoV, GII.4. Three different dilutions of a NoV-positive stool sample were prepared and subsequently treated with CAPP for various lengths of time, up to 15 min. NoV viral loads were quantified by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). Increased CAPP treatment time led to increased NoV reduction; samples treated for the longest time had the lowest viral load. From the initial starting quantity of 2.36 × 10(4) genomic equivalents/ml, sample exposure to CAPP reduced this value by 1.23 log10 and 1.69 log10 genomic equivalents/ml after 10 and 15 min, respectively (P < 0.01). CAPP treatment of surfaces carrying a lower viral load reduced NoV by at least 1 log10 after CAPP exposure for 2 min (P < 0.05) and 1 min (P < 0.05), respectively. Our results suggest that NoV can be inactivated by CAPP treatment. The lack of cell culture assays prevents our ability to estimate infectivity. It is possible that some detectable, intact virus particles were rendered noninfectious. We conclude that CAPP treatment of surfaces may be a useful strategy to reduce the risk of NoV transmission in crowded environments.
Human gastroenteritis is most frequently caused by noroviruses, which are spread person to person and via surfaces, often in facilities with crowds of people. Disinfection of surfaces that come into contact with infected humans is critical for the prevention of cross-contamination and further transmission of the virus. However, effective disinfection cannot be done easily in mass catering environments or health care facilities. We evaluated the efficacy of cold atmospheric pressure plasma, an innovative airborne disinfection method, on surfaces inoculated with norovirus. We used a clinically relevant strain of norovirus from an outbreak in Germany. Cold plasma was able to inactivate the virus on the tested surfaces, suggesting that this method could be used for continuous disinfection of contaminated surfaces. The use of a clinical strain of norovirus strengthens the reliability of our results as it is a strain relevant to outbreaks in humans.
人诺如病毒（NoV）是全球流行性非细菌性急性胃肠炎最常见的病因。我们研究了非热或冷大气压等离子体（CAPP）对临床人源爆发株NoV GII.4灭活的影响。制备了三种不同稀释度的NoV阳性粪便样本，随后用CAPP处理不同时长，最长达15分钟。通过定量实时逆转录PCR（RT-qPCR）对NoV病毒载量进行定量。CAPP处理时间延长导致NoV减少量增加；处理时间最长的样本病毒载量最低。从初始的2.36×10⁴基因组当量/毫升开始，样本经CAPP处理10分钟和15分钟后，该值分别降低了1.23 log₁₀和1.69 log₁₀基因组当量/毫升（P<0.01）。对病毒载量较低的表面进行CAPP处理，在CAPP暴露2分钟（P<0.05）和1分钟（P<0.05）后，NoV分别减少至少1 log₁₀。我们的结果表明，NoV可通过CAPP处理灭活。缺乏细胞培养测定妨碍了我们评估感染性的能力。有可能一些可检测到的完整病毒颗粒已失去感染性。我们得出结论，对表面进行CAPP处理可能是降低拥挤环境中NoV传播风险的有用策略。
人类胃肠炎最常见的病因是诺如病毒，其通过人与人之间以及经由表面传播，常在人群密集的场所传播。对与受感染人类接触的表面进行消毒对于预防交叉污染和病毒的进一步传播至关重要。然而，在大规模餐饮环境或医疗保健设施中，难以轻松实现有效的消毒。我们评估了一种创新的空气传播消毒方法——冷大气压等离子体对接种诺如病毒的表面的有效性。我们使用了来自德国一次疫情的具有临床相关性的诺如病毒株。冷等离子体能够使测试表面上的病毒失活，这表明该方法可用于对受污染表面进行持续消毒。使用临床诺如病毒株增强了我们结果的可靠性，因为它是与人类疫情相关的毒株。
