Cold atmospheric pressure plasma effectively inactivates human norovirus, meaning it could potentially be used for disinfecting contaminated surfaces in clinical settings, according to a recent study published in an American Society of Microbiology journal.
In the U.S., norovirus-associated foodborne illness accounts for roughly $2 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity every year, according to the study. The virus is extremely stable in the environment and resistant to detergent-based cleaning and disinfection with chlorine, making it ripe for transmission from person to person.
While detergent and chlorine may not be suitable for inactivating norovirus, CAPP may be.
Researchers treated three different dilutions of norovirus-positive stool and treated them with CAPP, typically an airborne disinfection method. They found increased plasma treatment times decreased the norovirus viral load.
Specifically, using CAPP reduced the norovirus infectious particles from 22,000 — which is approximately how many particles would be left on a surface touched by an infected individual — to 1,400 particles after only 10 minutes. The plasma treatment continued to reduce the infectious particles to just 500 after 15 minutes.
Not only is CAPP effective, it's fast too. Some viral load reduction activity began in as little as one to two minutes of CAPP treatment.
The study authors suggest CAPP may even be a more effective treatment than sodium hypochlorite.
"Because sodium hypochlorite treatment may leave residual chemicals, the effective inactivation of [norovirus] using CAPP seems to be an attractive alternative, particularly in food production and healthcare settings," according to the study.
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