Antiviral Activity of Active Materials: Standard and Finger-Pad-Based Innovative Experimental Approaches

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Virology
• Public Health

Background:

• Environmental surfaces, especially high-touch surfaces (HITS), act as fomites, facilitating viral transmission.
• Viruses persist on contaminated surfaces, posing a risk for infection through contact.
• Developing self-decontaminating materials is crucial for preventing viral disease spread.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the antiviral efficacy of active materials using different experimental procedures.
• To assess the impact of experimental conditions on antiviral activity against various viruses.
• To develop a reproducible method for evaluating antiviral activity on HITS under realistic conditions.

Main Methods:

• Assessed survival of enveloped (influenza virus) and non-enveloped (feline calicivirus) viruses on a reference surface and three active materials.
• Compared antiviral activities using three distinct experimental procedures.
• Developed a finger-pad transfer method to evaluate antiviral activity against murine norovirus on HITS.

Main Results:

• Experimental test conditions significantly influenced antiviral activity (over 1 log10 difference) based on virus type.
• Active materials demonstrated varying degrees of viral reduction.
• The novel finger-pad transfer approach provided a more realistic evaluation of antiviral performance.

Conclusions:

• The choice of experimental method substantially affects the assessment of active material antiviral efficacy.
• A reproducible finger-pad transfer method is essential for evaluating antiviral activity on HITS in real-world scenarios.
• Further research into optimized active materials and testing protocols is warranted for effective viral transmission control.