Human norovirus (hNoV) presents significant public health challenges due to its low infectious dose and environmental persistence. This study compared the inactivation efficacy of ultraviolet C irradiation at 254 nm (UV 254) and far-UVC radiation at 222 nm (UV 222) against four hNoV strains and two surrogate viruses, Tulane virus (TV) and bacteriophage MS2. A symptom scoring assay was developed to assess hNoV infectivity following microinjection into zebrafish embryos, being used in combination with reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), long-range RT-qPCR, and RNase-treated RT-qPCR. With a general laboratory set-up of viruses being suspended in deionized water droplets in Petri dish, UV 222 was demonstrated with comparable, if not superior, performance in reducing hNoV infectivity and RNA integrity, and was significantly more effective than UV 254 in damaging viral capsids. MS2 exhibited inactivation patterns similar to hNoVs, whereas TV was markedly more resistant to UV 222. The performance of UV 222 was consistent in inactivating hydrated viruses on both stainless steel and porcine skin surfaces. However, the efficacy of UV-222 was substantially more reduced when virus inocula were dried or mixed with simulated vomitus containing high levels of organic matter, compared with UV-254. No evidence of viral adaptation or persistent genomic diversification was detected following repeated sublethal UV exposures. Taken together, UV 222 can be regarded as a promising technology in surface disinfection, especially for hNoV control, meantime keeping safe for human exposure.
Bai et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: