Analysis of the carbon dioxide laser plume for simian immunodeficiency virus

To determine the viability of the immunodeficiency virus in the laser plume after carbon dioxide (CO2) laser irradiation, multiple samples of culture medium containing concentrated simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVMAC at 1000 TCID50 cultured from HUT 78 cells) were irradiated with a continuous-wave CO2 laser at variable irradiances (from 400 W/cm2 for 5 seconds to 1600 W/cm2 for 300 seconds). The resultant plume was collected and cultured for the presence of SIV. A positive control consisted of handling an infected specimen identically to the test specimens, with the exception of CO2 laser irradiation. All test cultures remained negative over an 8 week incubation period, while the control was positive for viable SIV within 7 days. These results suggest that SIV is not viable in the laser plume after CO2 laser irradiation. Further investigation is necessary before extrapolating these results to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).