Clusters of a virus called norovirus that causes stomach flu are resistant to detergent and ultraviolet disinfection, according to a study led by Nihal Altan-Bonnet, Ph.D., senior investigator and the head of the Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Dynamics at NHLBI and her colleagues at the George Washington University. The findings suggest the need to revisit current disinfection, sanitation and hygiene practices that protect people from noroviruses.
Altan-Bonnet and colleagues looked at the behavior of these protected virus clusters in the environment. They found that the virus clusters could survive attempts to disinfect with detergent solutions or even UV light. Water treatment plants use UV light to kill noroviruses and other pathogens.
“We have to consider these viral clusters cloaked in vesicle membranes as unique infectious agents in the public health arena,” said Altan-Bonnet. “When it comes to virulence — and now with this study, disinfection and sanitation — the sum is much more than its parts. And these clusters are endowed with properties that are absent from other types of viral particles.”
Future studies must be done to find out if certain kinds of cleaning solutions or higher dosages of UV light would degrade the protective membrane and/or kill the viruses inside. Ultimately, the research could be used to devise more effective disinfection methods that could be used to clean surfaces at home, in restaurants and in places where norovirus can spread and cause outbreaks, like cruise ships. The study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, was partly-funded by NHLBI.