Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Sep;30(5):e2115.
doi: 10.1002/rmv.2115. Epub 2020 Jul 2.

Using heat to kill SARS-CoV-2

John P Abraham  1 , Brian D Plourde  1 , Lijing Cheng  2
Affiliations
Review

Using heat to kill SARS-CoV-2

John P Abraham et al. Rev Med Virol. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The current coronavirus pandemic has reached global proportions and requires unparalleled collective and individual efforts to slow its spread. One critically important issue is the proper sterilization of physical objects that have been contaminated by the virus. Here, we review the currently existing literature on thermal inactivation of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and present preliminary guideless on temperatures and exposure durations required to sterilize. We also compare these temperatures/exposure durations with potential household appliances that may be thought capable of performing sterilization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Kampf G, Todt D, Pfaender S, Steainmann E. Persistence of coronavirus on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents. J Hosp Infect. 2020;104:246‐251. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Otter J, Donskey C, Yazli S, Douthwaite S, Goldenberg S, Weber D. Transmission of SARS and MERS coronaviruses and influenza virus in healthcare settings: the possible role of dry surface contamination. J Hosp Infect. 2016;92:235‐250. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Casanova L., Jeon S., Rutala W., Weber D., and Sobsey M., Effects of air temperature and relative humidity on coronavirus survival on surfaces, applied and environmental microbiology, vol. pp. 2712–2717, 2010. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Casanova L, Rutala W, Weber D, Sobsey M. Coronavirus survival on healthcare personal protective equipment. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2010;31:560‐561. - PubMed
    1. Casanova L, Sobsey E, Rutala W, Weber D, Sobsey M. Virus transfer from personal protective equipment to healthcare employees skin and clothing. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14:1291‐1293. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms