Rhinovirus inactivation by nasal tissues treated with virucide.

Rhinovirus colds may be transmitted by hand-to-hand contact followed by self-inoculation of nasal and/or conjunctival mucosa with virus contaminating the fingertips. The purpose of this study was to determine whether impregnation of nasal tissues with virucidal compounds could prevent rhinovirus from passing through the tissue and thus provide a means of preventing hand contamination during nose blowing. Paper tissues treated with a combination of citric acid, malic acid, and sodium laruryl sulfate were compared to placebo tissues containing sodium saccharin. Recovery of infectious virus was significantly reduced by passage of the virus-containing medium through virucidal versus placebo tissue (1/18 vs. 17/18 respectively, P less than 0.001, Fisher exact test). The virucidal effect of treated tissues was demonstrated for multiple rhinovirus serotypes suspended in either cell culture medium or nasal mucus. Virus contained in mucus from infected volunteers was also inactivated.