Survival of nosocomial bacteria and spores on surfaces and inactivation by hydrogen peroxide vapor

Abstract

With inocula of 6 to 7 log(10) CFU, most vegetative bacteria and spores tested survived on surfaces for more than 5 weeks, but all were inactivated within 90 min of exposure to hydrogen peroxide vapor in a 100-m(3) test room even in the presence of 0.3% bovine serum albumin to simulate biological soiling.

FIG. 1.

Resistance of nosocomial bacteria and spores to drying over a 6-week sampling period when exposed to room air at ambient relative temperature and humidity in a laboratory. Black lines indicate aggregates of all data for each species; error bars represent +1 standard deviation. For gray lines, each data point represents a mean of the results obtained with three replicate discs for each strain. EMRSA, epidemic MRSA.

FIG. 2.

Resistance of nosocomial bacteria and spores to hydrogen peroxide vapor in a 100-m³ test room over a 90-min exposure period. Black lines indicate aggregates of all data for each species; error bars represent +1 standard deviation. For gray lines, each data point represents a mean of three replicate runs for each strain. EMRSA, epidemic MRSA.