Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents.
Open accessAbstract
Currently, the emergence of a novel human coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has become a global health concern causing severe respiratory tract infections in humans. Human-to-human transmissions have been described with incubation times between 2-10 days, facilitating its spread via droplets, contaminated hands or surfaces. We therefore reviewed the literature on all available information about the persistence of human and veterinary coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces as well as inactivation strategies with biocidal agents used for chemical disinfection, e.g. in healthcare facilities. The analysis of 22 studies reveals that human coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus or endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV) can persist on inanimate surfaces like metal, glass or plastic for up to 9 days, but can be efficiently inactivated by surface disinfection procedures with 62-71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute. Other biocidal agents such as 0.05-0.2% benzalkonium chloride or 0.02% chlorhexidine digluconate are less effective. As no specific therapies are available for SARS-CoV-2, early containment and prevention of further spread will be crucial to stop the ongoing outbreak and to control this novel infectious thread.
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SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and influenza virus A (H1N1) can be efficiently inactivated by these compounds within 1 min.
“Studies have also shown that SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and influenza virus A (H1N1) can be efficiently inactivated by these compounds within 1 min (Kariwa et al., 2006; Eggers et al., 2015, 2018; Kampf et al., 2020; Li and Meng, 2020).”
From Oral Microbiome and SARS-CoV-2: Beware of Lung Co-infection (2020) · cites this paper as Kampf et al., 2020
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- Authors
- Kampf, G., Todt, D., Pfaender, S., & Steinmann, E.
- Affiliations
- Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE)
- Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Kampf, G.
- Venue
- Journal of Hospital Infection
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-03
- Volume
- 104
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 246-251
- ISSN
- 0195-6701 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7132493
- OpenAlex
- W3005057892
- Cited by
- 3,796
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 143 · 2023: 320 · 2022: 645 · 2021: 1105 · 2020: 1446 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 123.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- erratum (2020-07-01)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Hospital Infection (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infection Control in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, surface disinfection, biocides, chemical disinfection, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite, benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, human coronaviruses, healthcare facilities
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Disinfectants, Environmental Microbiology, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Coronavirus Infections, Microbial Viability
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