Comparison of surface sampling methods for virus recovery from fomites.

ABSTRACT: The role of fomites in infectious disease transmission relative to other exposure routes is difficult to discern due, in part, to the lack of information on the level and distribution of virus contamination on surfaces. Comparisons of studies intending to fill this gap are difficult because multiple different sampling methods are employed and authors rarely report their method's lower limit of detection. In the present study, we compare a subset of sampling methods identified from a literature review to demonstrate that sampling method significantly influences study outcomes. We then compare a subset of methods identified from the review to determine the most efficient methods for recovering virus from surfaces in a laboratory trial using MS2 bacteriophage as a model virus. Recoveries of i

SUBMITTER: Julian TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3187074 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature