Viral contamination of aerosol and surfaces through toilet use in health care and other settings.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The airborne spreading of enteric viruses can occur through the aerosol and droplets produced by toilet flushing. These can contaminate the surrounding environment, but few data exist to estimate the risk of exposure and infection. For this reason environmental monitoring of air and selected surfaces was carried out in 2 toilets of an office building and in 3 toilets of a hospital before and after cleaning operations.

Methods

To reveal the presence of norovirus, enterovirus, rhinovirus, human rotavirus, and Torque teno virus and to quantify human adenovirus and bacteria counts, molecular and cultural methods were used.

Results

On the whole, viruses were detected on 78% of surfaces and in 81% of aerosol. Among the researched viruses, only human adenovirus an

SUBMITTER: Verani M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7132667 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature