Rapid Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 Variants by Continuous and Intermittent Irradiation with a Deep-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diode (DUV-LED) Device

  1. Hiroko Inagaki
  2. Akatsuki Saito
  3. Chiho Kaneko
  4. Hironobu Sugiyama
  5. Tamaki Okabayashi
  6. Shouichi Fujimoto

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Abstract

More than 1 year has passed since social activities have been restricted due to the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More recently, novel SARS-CoV-2 variants have been spreading around the world, and there is growing concern that they may have higher transmissibility and that the protective efficacy of vaccines may be weaker against them. Immediate measures are needed to reduce human exposure to the virus. In this study, the antiviral efficacy of deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diode (DUV-LED) irradiation (280 ± 5 nm, 3.75 mW/cm2) against three SARS-CoV-2 variants was evaluated. For the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 variant strains, irradiation of the virus stocks for 1 s resulted in infectious titer reduction rates of 96.3%, 94.6%, and 91.9%, respectively, and with irradiation for 5 s, the rates increased to 99.9%, 99.9%, and 99.8%, respectively. We also tested the effect of pulsed DUV-LED irradiation (7.5 mW/cm2, duty rate: 50%, frequency: 1 kHz) under the same output conditions as for continuous irradiation and found that the antiviral efficacy of pulsed and continuous irradiation was the same. These findings suggest that by further developing and optimizing the DUV-LED device to increase its output, it may be possible to instantly inactivate SARS-CoV-2 with DUV-LED irradiation.

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  1. Version published to 10.3390/pathogens10060754
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.05.10.443422: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    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: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Despite the significant inactivating effects of DUV-LED reported here, this study has some limitations. First, these effects may be limited to the test conditions applied in this study, including the irradiation distance and output (work distance of 20 mm; irradiation at 3.75 mW/cm2 for continuous irradiation and 7.5 mW/cm2 for pulsed irradiation (duty rate: 50%; frequency: 1 KHz)). In addition, it is necessary to also evaluate multiple parameters, such as the frequency and duty ratio, to clarify the effectiveness of pulse irradiation. The influence of the material and the power consumption for the high amplitude were also not evaluated. In the future, we will examine in more detail whether various conditions of DUV-LED irradiation may affect the degree of the inactivation of microorganisms. In addition to community settings, healthcare settings are also vulnerable to the invasion and spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, and the stability of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosols and on surfaces [19] likely contributes to the transmission of the virus in medical environments. It is important to create an environment that minimizes virus exposure to suppress the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a sustainable and efficient manner. It was confirmed in our study that SARS-CoV-2, including its variants, is highly susceptible to DUV-LED irradiation. By devising appropriate and optimized irradiation methods, it is conceivable that DUV-LED irradiation can be adapted and applied in various settings. This st...

    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:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.05.10.443422v1 on bioRxiv