Abstract

Endoscopes are a common source of outbreaks of healthcare- associated infections. It is therefore important to identify high-level disinfectants capable of eliminating or killing all vegetative bacteria, mycobacteria, and viruses. Aldehydebased disinfectants are most commonly used in clinical practice but resistance has recently been detected and side effects associated with these disinfectants are well documented. In this study, we evaluated Virusolve+® EDS, a novel quaternary ammonium compound formulation supplied by Amity international, against Mycobacterium bovis (ATCC-27289), hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive serum and hepatitis B surface antigen-positive serum. We also compared its efficacy against Cidex® (glutaraldehyde 2%), an aldehyde-based disinfectant. M. bovis showed no growth after 10 weeks with either Virusolve+® or Cidex®. Virusolve+® achieved a 104- fold reduction in the initial 106 HCV load under clean conditions (without red blood cells) for 20 min, whereas Cidex® achieved this reduction under clean and dirty conditions (without and with red blood cells, respectively) after both 10 and 20 min. Both Virusolve+® and Cidex® were able to eradicate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infectivity under clean conditions after 10 and 20 min, whereas under dirty conditions they were only able to eradicate virus infectivity after 20 min. Virusolve+® EDS when compared with Cidex® showed equal mycobactericidal activity completely eradicating M. bovis. However, both showed comparable virucidal activity against HBV, which was more effective under clean conditions, emphasizing the importance of the cleaning step in endoscope reprocessing. Cidex® was more effective at eradicating HCV under dirty conditions after a short contact time.

• Keywords: Virusolve+® EDS; Cidex®; high-level disinfectants