Designing antiviral surfaces to suppress the spread of COVID-19 (original) (raw)
Surface Alterations to Impart Antiviral Properties to Combat COVID-19 Transmission
Transactions of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, 2020
A global epidemic caused by highly transmittable COVID-19 is causing severe loss of human life. In this study, two aspects of reducing transmission of COVID-19 virus, due to surface contact, are discussed: first refers to the effect of nanocarbon fullerene C 60 coating on surface, that causes lipid peroxidation on the phospholipid layer present in the outer envelope of COVID-19; the second aspect refers to creating hydrophobic surfaces by texturing them, so that the contact area between virus and surface is minimized due to the presence of entrapped air between the topographies. These can be similar to micro-/ nano-multiscale textured surfaces that have anti-biofouling properties. Fullerene-coated surfaces can be seen as a possible solution to decrease the adhesion of virus on the surface, as they will be hydrophobic as well as toxic to the envelope.
Environmental Engineering for Stopping Viruses Pandemics
Open Access Library Journal, 2020
A huge number of investigations on the ecological sources, fate, and transport of viruses have been dedicated to non-enveloped viruses such as norovirus and enteroviruses. However, more recent global outbreaks of viral diseases have been provoked by enveloped viruses comprising viruses from the Coro-navirus family (SARS, MERS, COVID-19). Enveloped viruses have a lipid membrane encircling their protein capsid and genome. SARS-CoV-2 will surely not be the ultimate fresh virus to jut and badly terrorize worldwide public health and life. Scientists and funding agencies have a trend to concentrate largely on a particular virus throughout its eruption; however, then advance on to different themes when the eruption calms. Considering the historical contributions from environmental engineering, and the huge dares that emerge, environmental science and engineering specialists have to adopt a larger, long-term, and more quantitative strategy to comprehending viruses that are diffusing through nature. Identical to the manner by which chemical contaminants are handled in the environment, the particular properties that control transport and demobilization of enveloped viruses in solutions, on surfaces, and in the air must be understood. Besides, the fashion by which ecological parameters form likely virus transmission mechanisms should be comprehended. Thereby, despite the identity of the enveloped virus that provokes the following main eruption, more sophisticated detailing of its endurance and guidance on how to reduce its diffusion may be given.
Materials, 2020
The unwavering spread of COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. Preventive measures like social distancing and mask usage have been taken all around the globe but still, as of September 2020, the number of cases continues to rise in many countries. Evidently, these measures are insufficient. Although decreases in population density and surges in the public’s usage of personal protective equipment can mitigate direct transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), indirect transmission of the virus is still probable. By summarizing the current state of knowledge on the stability of coronaviruses on dry materials, this review uncovers the high potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through contaminated surfaces (i.e., fomites) and prompts future research. Fully contextualized data on coronavirus persistence are presented. The methods and limitations to testing the stability of coronaviruses are explored, and the SARS-CoV-2 representativeness of different c...
F1000 - Post-publication peer review of the biomedical literature, 2020
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 62e71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute. Other biocidal agents such as 0.05e0.2% 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.
Effect of Surface Porosity on SARS-CoV-2 Fomite Infectivity
ACS Omega
Previous reports indicated the low stability of severe actute respiratory syndrome coronovirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on various porous surfaces, but the role of porosity was unclear because there was no direct comparison between porous and nonporous solids of the same chemistry. Through comparing pairs of solids with very similar chemistry, we find that porosity is important: porous glass has a much lower infectivity than nonporous glass. However, porosity is not sufficient to lower infectivity; permeability, which is the ability of a liquid to move through a material, is the important parameter. We show this by comparing a pair of porous CuO coatings where the pores are accessible in one case and inaccessible in the other case. When the pores are inaccessible, the infectivity remains similar to that for nonporous solids. Thus, for both glass and CuO, it is the access to porosity that decreases the infectivity of extracted liquid droplets. Having established the importance of permeability, there is the open question of the mechanism of changing the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2. Several hypotheses are possible, such as increasing the difficulty of extracting the virus from the solid, changing the drying time, increasing the surface area of active ingredient, etc. Reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) measurements show that less viral DNA is extracted from a permeable surface, suggesting that the virus becomes trapped in the pores. Finally, we consider the effect of drying. We show that permeability and the water contact angle on the solid have effects on the drying time of a contaminated droplet, which may in turn affect infectivity.
Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents
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 62e71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute. Other biocidal agents such as 0.05e0.2% 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.
COVID-19 pandemic – let's not forget surfaces
Journal of Hospital Infection, 2020
Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre-including this research content-immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
Author's Copy On Masks and Propagation of the COVID-19 Virus
The goals of this study have been: (a) to examine how the SARS-CoV-2 virus, commonly referred to as COVID-19, can enter into the local environment from talking, coughing and sneezing, (b) to examine the likely effectiveness of masking, and (c) to provide neutral information to help in making good public health decisions. Calculations were done using well-established physics principles and reliable, modern data sources. Stokes Law for settling was used and shows that the time for the average sized virus (~100-120 nm) to fall one metre in relatively dry air (30% relative humidity at one atmosphere (atm) pressure and 25 o C (77 o F)) is about 26 days with a range of 149 days (50 nm virus) to 2.33 days (200 nm virus). The effect of virus encapsulation by saliva was also considered. The measured distributions of saliva droplets in a sneeze and saliva evaporation rates were used to calculate the effect of evaporation on COVID-19 settling times. Even for the saliva-covered COVID-19 virions, which are much larger than the "dry" virions, the settling time is sufficiently mediated by evaporation to still allow for complete evaporation before falling one metre. Increases in relative humidity had but a small effect on increasing the settling times. However, increasing the temperature to 37 o C (98.6 o F) markedly reduced the settling times of droplets for full evaporation. Thus, viruses under various conditions, are released into the local environment. The efficacy of currently available masks (from home-made masks of various types and materials to N-95) is considered in terms of their physical characteristics. We found no instance in which currently available masks were either designed for or capable of reliably filtering viruses. The possibility of masking as a strategy for dealing with the spread of COVID-19 is considered and suggestions are made for improved approaches.
Issues Concerning Survival of Viruses on Surfaces
Food and Environmental Virology, 2010
Viruses are the causative agents of an estimated 60% of human infections worldwide. The most common viral illnesses are produced by enteric and respiratory viruses. Transmission of these viruses from an infected person or animal to a new host can occur via several routes. Existing studies strongly suggest that contaminated fomites or surfaces play an important role in the spreading of viral diseases. The potential of viral spreading via contaminated surfaces depends particularly on the ability of the virus to maintain infectivity whilst it is in the environment. This is affected by a combination of biological, physical and chemical factors. This review summarises current knowledge about the influence of environmental factors on the survival and spread of viruses via contaminated surfaces.