Chemical Disinfection of Human Rotaviruses: Efficacy of Commercially-available Products in Suspension Tests

Suspension tests were conducted on 69 commercial and 7 non-commercial disinfectant formulations to determine which classes of chemicals were most active against human rotavirus (HRV). Virus samples, in the presence of varying levels of organic matter, were exposed to the disinfectants for 1 min. The levels of remaining infectious virus were determined by plaque assay. Products were rated by their ability to reduce the levels of infectious virus by more than 3 log10 in the presence or absence of tryptose phosphate broth (peptides and inorganic salts) or fecal matter. Of the commercially-available products tested, only 25% were rated as highly and 7% as moderately effective. The remaining 68% were either effective only in the absence of any additional organic matter (48%) or were completely ineffective (20%). The majority (64%) of the moderately and highly effective products were further examined for their ability to inactivate greater than 6 log10 of infectious HRV in the presence of fecal matter or tryptose phosphate broth. With one exception, all these products were still effective. Products potentially suitable as topical antiseptics, hard surface disinfectants and instrument soaks were identified. The results emphasize the care that should be exercised in the selection of disinfectants for the control and prevention of rotaviral infections.