Healthcare providers encounter a wide range of hazards on the job, including exposure to infectious diseases. Protecting them from occupational infectious disease is very important. Healthcare workers use personal protective equipment (PPE) as a measure to decrease the risk of getting infected during patient care. For high-risk diseases like Ebola, Tyvek suits are coverall suits that protect the body and reduce the risk of body fluid exposure. However, a person removing a contaminated suit may also be exposed to virus. Previous studies have shown that enveloped viruses can survive on different types of surfaces, so the objective of this study is to determine the inactivation of bacteriophage Φ6, a surrogate for enveloped human virus, on the surface of Tyvek suits at two different relative humidity levels, 40% and 60% at 22°C. The results showed the inactivation rate of virus was higher at 60% RH than 40% RH. There was ~3log10 (99.9%) reduction of virus inactivation after 6 hours at 40% but ~3log10 (99.9%) inactivation took 9 hours at 60%. This suggests that enveloped viruses can survive on the surface of Tyvek suits for more than 6 hours, and should be considered a potential risk for contamination when they are taken off after use.

Introduction: Preventing healthcare professionals from acquiring occupational infectious diseases is very important in maintaining healthcare delivery systems. For protection in the work place, healthcare professionals use PPE which helps prevent exposure to pathogens during patient care. N95 respirators protect healthcare workers against airborne pathogens that are known to be associated with different respiratory diseases. Since previous studies have shown that viruses can survive on PPE surfaces, it is important to examine the survival of viruses on respirators to determine if reuse of the same N95 respirator is possible when PPE shortages occur. Goal: The goal of this research is to determine the inactivation of bacteriophage Φ6 on the surface of N95 respirators at ambient temperature and two different relative humidity levels, 40 and 60%. Result: The linear regression showed that rate of inactivation was much lower in 40% than 60% RH (40%: Slope= -0.046± 0.007040; 60%: Slope= -0.20± 0.006136). Over 24 hours, there was a ~1 Log10 reduction in virus at 20°C and 40% RH, while there was a ~4 Log10 reduction at 20°C and 60% RH. Within the timeframe of a single patient encounter, there was a <0.02 Log10 reduction in virus at 40% RH and a <0.1 Log10 reduction at 60% RH. Conclusion: Bacteriophage Φ6 survives on N95 respirators for up to 24 hours at ambient temperature and 40 and 60% relative humidity levels. Inactivation rate was lower in 40% than 60% RH. The results showed that enveloped viruses survive on the surface of N95 respirators for longer than a single patient encounter. Therefore, this should be taken into consideration when doing a risk assessment of reusing N95 respirators when shortages occur.

The survival of three enteroviruses (polio 1, coxsackie B3 and echo 1) and a rotavirus (SA-11) was studied under laboratory conditions. The effects of temperature, dissolved oxygen, detention time, sludge source and virus type on virus inactivation were determined. Temperature was the single most important factor influencing the rate of virus inactivation. No significant differences were found for virus inactivation rates at dissolved oxygen levels between 0.9 and 5.8 mg/l. However, the inactivation rate of the viruses under aerobic conditions was found to be significantly greater than the inactivation rate under anaerobic conditions (−0.77log10/day vs −0.33 log10/day). Sludge source, detention time and virus type did not significantly influence the rate of virus inactivation.

Le Virus Respiratoire Syncytial (VRS) est une des causes les plus fréquentes d'infections respiratoires chez l'enfant. Actuellement les mécanismes de transmission, notamment la part des aérosols, ne sont pas connus. Dans ce contexte, l'objectif de ce travail a porté sur l'étude de l'aérobiocontamination virale des espaces clos. Ainsi, cette recherche a concerné l'étude en laboratoire de l'infectivité du VRS sous forme d'aérosols, la caractérisation des émissions trachéobronchiques ainsi que la recherche d'aérosols de VRS dans différents environnements intérieurs. L'étude d'un aérosol de Virus Respiratoire Syncytial en laboratoire a montré une baisse notable du pouvoir infectieux dans une ambiance humide. Cependant l’approche cinétique montre que l’impact de l'humidité relative peut se révéler très différent selon l’âge de l’aérosol. L'étude des émissions trachéobronchiques, réalisée sur un panel de 81 volontaires, symptomatiques et asymptomatiques, a mis en évidence la proportion importante de particules fines et ultrafines dans ces émissions. De plus, il a été montré que les asymptomatiques ont tendance à émettre moins de particules que les symptomatiques et qu'il n'existe pas de distribution en taille spécifique d'un groupe ou l'autre. Enfin, la recherche d'aérosols de VRS dans les environnements intérieurs a été effectuée à l'aide d'un préleveur cyclonique à haut débit au sein d'un hôpital et d'établissements recevant des enfants. Au total 14 prélèvements ont été effectués et associés à des analyses PCR. Ces prélèvements n'ont pas mis en évidence la présence de virus respiratoires aéroportés dans ces environnements / Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a leading cause of respiratory infections in infants. However, the mechanisms involved in the transmission of the disease are not well known. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to study the viral aerocontamination of indoor environments. This research is thus aimed at the study in laboratory of the survival of RSV aerosol, at the characterization of the particles size of exhaled respiratory aerosols and at the research of these RSV aerosols in various indoor environments. The laboratory study of a RSV aerosol revealed a decrease of its infectivity in a humid atmosphere. However, it appeared that the humidity's impact could be different according to the age of the aerosol. The study of exhaled respiratory aerosol made with 81 volunteers, with or without symptom, showed the important proportion of fine and ultra fine particles. Moreover, it has been shown that volunteers without symptom emit fewer particles than individuals with symptoms. Also, this work highlighted the fact that there is not a specific size distribution considering these emissions. Lastly, the research of RSV aerosols in indoor environments has been done using a high flow cyclone sampler in a hospital and various institutions. Fourteen samplings were done, associated with PCR analyses. These samplings did not permit to detect respiratory airborne viruses