Potential Role of Fomites in the Vehicular Transmission of Human Astroviruses

Abstract

The persistence of human astroviruses dried on representative porous (paper) and nonporous (china) surfaces was investigated. Long-term astrovirus survival on fomites was monitored by an integrated cell culture-reverse transcription-PCR procedure. Viruses were applied to inanimate surfaces in the presence and absence of fecal material, and their survival was assayed at 4 and 20°C with high relative humidity. Astroviruses exhibited a notable persistence when dried on porous and nonporous materials, particularly at low temperature. Short-term survival of astroviruses on fomites was compared to that of other enteric viruses significant for health, such as rotavirus, adenovirus, poliovirus, and hepatitis A virus. Overall, astroviruses persisted better than poliovirus and adenovirus, although they exhibited a shorter survival than rotavirus and hepatitis A virus. Astroviruses show a high level of persistence at the desiccation step, which is of major significance in determining the chance of subsequent virus survival dried on fomites. Astroviruses are able to survive on inert surfaces long enough to suggest that fomites may play a relevant role in the secondary transmission of astrovirus diarrhea.

Human Astroviruses

“…Several large HAstV outbreaks have been associated with consumption of contaminated food (205)(206)(207). In addition, fecally contaminated fomites have been implicated in outbreaks declared in institutions such as day care centers, hospitals, nurseries, schools and military facilities (208,209). Moreover, waterborne transmission of HAstVs has been suggested as a risk of digestive morbidity for the general population (210), and HAstV was recovered in surface water from an area in which an outbreak of gastroenteritis was concomitantly occurring (211).…”

“…This seasonality may be the consequence of a better stability of the virus at lower temperatures (208,212). Other viral gastroenteritis agents such as rotaviruses and noroviruses, but not adenoviruses, show a similar seasonal pattern (258)(259)(260).…”

“…Fomites or inanimate surfaces play an important role in the institutional spread of HAstV infections (208,209,228). Fomites include serving and chopping utensils, and the ability of the virus to persist dried onto these surfaces long enough and in numbers high enough to represent a risk is a major public health issue.…”

Transfer Efficiency of Bacteria and Viruses from Porous and Nonporous Fomites to Fingers under Different Relative Humidity Conditions

“…Bodily fluids such as saliva, mucus, nasal secretions, blood, urine, and feces may all potentially contain pathogens that can be transmitted via fomites (6)(7)(8)(9). A number of studies have shown that enteric and respiratory pathogens are capable of surviving from hours to months on fomites, depending on the numbers deposited, the type of microorganism, and the variable environmental conditions (10)(11)(12). Several studies have shown that inanimate surfaces found in day care centers (8,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), schools (18), office buildings (19), homes (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27), public areas (28), or hospitals (12,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33) can be reservoirs for secondary modes of transmission, with contaminated hands playing a critical role as a route of exposure.…”

Bacterial contamination of public telephones in the downtown area of Sarajevo

“…Therefore, there is increasing public interest in examination of microbiological contamination of fomites in community settings. Some microorganisms can be pathogenic at low concentrations and survive on nonporous surfaces such as telephones, taps, doorknobs and toilet bowls (Goldmann, 2000;Abad et al, 2001;Rusin et al, 2002;Reynolds et al, 2005). There are few data available concerning the investigation of bacterial pathogens from public telephones (Ferdinandus et al, 2001;Tunç and Olgun, 2006;Annand et al, 2009;Brooke et al, 2009).…”