Efficient inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by WHO-recommended hand rub formulations and alcohols

  1. Annika Kratzel
  2. Daniel Todt
  3. Philip V’kovski
  4. Silvio Steiner
  5. Mitra L. Gultom
  6. Tran Thi Nhu Thao
  7. Nadine Ebert
  8. Melle Holwerda
  9. Jörg Steinmann
  10. Daniela Niemeyer
  11. Ronald Dijkman
  12. Günter Kampf
  13. Christian Drosten
  14. Eike Steinmann
  15. Volker Thiel
  16. Stephanie Pfaender

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Abstract

The recent emergence of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing COVID-19 is a major burden for health care systems worldwide. It is important to address if the current infection control instructions based on active ingredients are sufficient. We therefore determined the virucidal activity of two alcohol-based hand rub solutions for hand disinfection recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as commercially available alcohols. Efficient SARS-CoV-2 inactivation was demonstrated for all tested alcohol-based disinfectants. These findings show the successful inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 for the first time and provide confidence in its use for the control of COVID-19.

Importance

The current COVID-19 outbreak puts a huge burden on the world’s health care systems. Without effective therapeutics or vaccines being available, effective hygiene measure are of utmost importance to prevent viral spreading. It is therefore crucial to evaluate current infection control strategies against SARS-CoV-2. We show the inactivation of the novel coronavirus for the first time and endorse the importance of disinfectant-based hand hygiene to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.03.10.986711: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Viral strains and cell culture: SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2/München-1.1/2020/929) stocks were propagated on VeroE6 cells (kindly provided by M-Müller/ C. Drosten, Charité, Berlin,
    VeroE6
    suggested: JCRB Cat# JCRB1819, RRID:CVCL_YQ49)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical Analysis: Dose-response curves (normalized virus inactivation [%] vs. log (disinfectant concentration [%]) were determined using nonlinear regression using the robust fitting method on the normalized 50 % tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) data implemented in GraphPad Prism version 8.0.3 for Windows.
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    Outlier were identified using Grubb’s test (GraphPad Prism).
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • No conflict of interest statement was detected. If there are no conflicts, we encourage authors to explicit state so.
    • No funding statement was detected.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.03.10.986711v1 on bioRxiv