EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF DISINFECTANTS ON ROTAVIRUS RNA AND INFECTIVITY BY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION AND CELL-CULTURE METHODS

Rotaviruses have been linked to outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis of children in day-care centres and hospital paediatric wards. There is, therefore, the need for monitoring effective decontamination of such e nvironments. We have evaluated the effects of seven different methods of disinfection/ inactivation (four chemical and three physical) on ro tavirus using the PCR and cell-culture methods. We observed that 6% H2 O2, 2500 ppm chlorine, an ethano-phenolic disinfectant, u.v. irradiati on and heat completely destroyed the infectivity of rotavirus as well as RNA amplifiable by PCR. On the other hand, treatment with 80% ethan ol resulted in the loss of infectivity despite the fact that RNA was s till amplifiable. Rotavirus subjected to drying over a 24 h period sti ll retained amplifiable RNA but infectivity was reduced by 100-fold wh en compared to the control. This study demonstrated an agreement betwe en PCR and cell-culture monitoring systems, however, PCR is a more rap id and sensitive assay. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited