PAPILLOMAVIRUS IS RESISTANT TO DESICCATION

There is strong epidemiologic evidence for sexual transmission of high -risk genital human papillomavirus (HPV) types. However, it is unclear if infection may also be transmitted indirectly via fomites. To asses s this possibility, the in vitro infectivity after desiccation was com pared for pseudotype HPV-16 virions, a model for high-risk type genita l HPV, and bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV-1), a papillomavirus know n to be transmitted via fomites. The 2 viruses had similar resistance to desiccation in cell extracts, retaining similar to 100%, 50%, and 3 0% of infectivity when dehydrated for 1, 3, and 7 days, respectively, at room temperature. Pseudotype HPV-16 and BPV in cell extracts were c ompletely inactivated by autoclave treatment and susceptible to 70% et hanol but were resistant to EDTA or incubation at 56 degrees C for 1 h . The data suggest that further study of nonsexual spread of high-risk genital HPV via fomites is warranted.