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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2006, p. 1419-1424, Vol. 50, No. 4
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.50.4.1419-1424.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Efficacy of Hospital Germicides against Adenovirus 8, a Common Cause of Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis in Health Care Facilities

William A. Rutala,^1,2* Jeffrey E. Peacock,³ Maria F. Gergen,¹ Mark D. Sobsey,³ and David J. Weber^1,2

Department of Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Health Care System, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514,¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7030,² Department of Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599³

Received 17 August 2005/ Returned for modification 17 October 2005/ Accepted 6 February 2006

The inactivation of virus-contaminated nonporous inanimate surfaces was investigated using adenovirus type 8, a common cause of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis. A 10-µl inoculum of adenovirus was placed onto each stainless steel disk (1-cm diameter), and the inoculum was allowed to air dry for 40 min. Twenty-one different germicides (including disinfectants and antiseptics) were selected for this study based on their current uses in health care. After a 1- or 5-minute exposure to 50 µl of the germicide, the virus-germicide test mixture was neutralized and assayed for infectivity. Using an efficacy criterion of a 3-log₁₀ reduction in the titer of virus infectivity and regardless of the virus suspending medium (i.e., hard water, sterile water, and hard water with 5% fetal calf serum), only five disinfectants proved to be effective against the test virus at 1 min: 0.55% ortho-phthalaldehyde, 2.4% glutaraldehyde, 2.65% glutaraldehyde, 6,000 ppm chlorine, and 1,900 ppm chlorine. Four other disinfectants showed effectiveness under four of the five testing conditions: 70% ethanol, 65% ethanol with 0.63% quaternary ammonium compound, 79.6% ethanol with 0.1% quaternary ammonium compound, and 0.2% peracetic acid. Of the germicides suitable for use as an antiseptic, 70% ethanol achieved a 3-log₁₀ reduction under four of the five test conditions. These results emphasize the need for proper selection of germicides for use in disinfecting noncritical surfaces and semicritical medical devices, such as applanation tonometers, in order to prevent outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: CB# 7030, 130 Mason Farm Road, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030. Phone: (919) 843-1397. Fax: (919) 966-1451. E-mail: brutala{at}unch.unc.edu.

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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2006, p. 1419-1424, Vol. 50, No. 4
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.50.4.1419-1424.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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