Ethanol-containing hand rubs are used frequently as a substitute for hand washing with water and soap. However, not all viruses are inactivated by a short term rubbing with alcohol. The capacity of a single round of instructed and controlled hand cleaning with water and soap or ethanol-containing hand rub, respectively, was tested for removal of human rhinovirus administered onto the skin of healthy volunteers on the back of the hands. Hand washing with soap and water appeared to be much more efficient for removing rhinoviruses from skin than rubbing hands with an ethanol-containing disinfectant. After washing with soap and water the virus was detected in 3/9 (33.3%) test persons from the left hand and 1/9 (11.1%) cases from the right hand, whereas the virus was detected invariably by real-time RT-PCR from both hands after cleaning with alcohol hand rub (P-value <0.01). Both substances evaluated clinically were also tested in vitro for virucidal efficacy against Human rhinovirus2 (HRV2) using a standardized assay. Both tested substances were poor within the contact time used in the hand-cleaning test. In conclusion, thorough and conventional hand washing with water and soap can clean efficiently hands contaminated with the virus responsible for an extensive share of common cold episodes.

No correlation was found between the presence of HEV in the first year of life and the development of islet autoantibodies. There was no association between HEV infections and dietary intervention, maternal diabetes or clinical symptoms.

Both live and dead GG have beneficial effects in RV infection. GG may increase RV clearance from the body and reduce colon swelling.

Human enteroviruses (HEV) are common, especially in childhood and during the enterovirus season, causing mainly asymptomatic infections but also mild and severe illnesses. Numerous studies have shown the association between HEV infections and type 1 diabetes. Here, the prevalence of HEV infections was studied in healthy Swedish children with increased HLA‐associated risk for type 1 diabetes participating in the PRODIA pilot study in which children were randomized to receive probiotics or placebo during the first 6 months of life. Stool specimens collected from 197 children in every 3 months from the age of 3 to 24 months were screened for HEV using traditional viral culturing method and identified with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and sequencing of the partial VP1 coding part of the viral genome. Altogether 4.8% (52/1,094) of the specimens were HEV‐positive and 22.3% (44/197) of the children excreted HEV during the follow‐up. HEV‐A and HEV‐B were present in 2.1 and 2.7% of the specimens, respectively. HEV‐C and HEV‐D viruses were not detected. In total, 17 different HEV serotypes were detected and the most common findings were CV‐A9 (13.5%), CV‐A16 (11.5%), and CV‐A2 (9.6%). The majority of the infections (92.3%) were during the enterovirus season extending from July to December. Probiotic treatment did not affect significantly the risk of HEV infections during the 2‐year follow‐up although a trend for transient decrease for HEV positivity (HEV‐A and/or HEV‐B) by the age of 12 months was observed in children who received probiotics [OR 0.40; 95% confidence interval 0.15 to 1.08; P‐value 0.071, generalized estimating (GEE) analysis]. According to the results, HEV‐A findings were nearly as common as HEV‐B findings among the healthy children participating in this study. Also it was shown that serotypes belonging to HEV‐A species can be detected by means of viral culturing. J. Med. Virol. 84:923–930, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The significance of human rhinoviruses (HRV) as prevailing respiratory pathogens has sharpened during the recent years followed by implementation of molecular methods in detection. Rhinoviruses are detected exceedingly in hospitalized cases of respiratory infection with varying severity, in addition to being frequent in cases of common cold. The aim of this study was to evaluate occurrence of HRV in a prospective study material. The prospective INDIS material comprises nasopharyngeal (N=429) and fecal (N=425) specimens from children under 11 years of age collected during any clinical infection. Validated real-time RT-PCR assays were applied for the detection of HRV. HRV were detected numerously not only in the nasopharyngeal specimens, but a myriad also in fecal specimens, 236 (55.0%) and 149 (35.1%), respectively, fecal findings actually beyond anticipation. A total of 13 of HRV-positive fecal specimens were selected for genetic typing in the VP4/VP2 coding region. HRV-A strains were detected in seven specimens: HRV-A9, -A10, -A24, -A49, -A56 and -A82. HRV-B-strains were detected three times: HRV-B42 and -B79, and HRV-C twice: HRV-C12 and HRV-Cpat4. HRV-B42 also showed cytopathic effect in cell culture, confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and VP4/VP2 sequencing, suggesting presence of viable HRV in fecal specimens.