Antiviral Disinfectants – Proving Performance The current outbreak of human coronavirus called COVID-19 is an ongoing concern for public health officials and ordinary citizens throughout the world. Whilst COVID-19 has captured global attention infectious diseases are having an impact all the time, in human, animal and plant disease, usually without detailed media coverage.

Combatting outbreaks of viral disease is achieved by well-trodden biosecurity measures, notably good personal hygiene centred on hand washing. Decontamination of at-risk environments is also a key biosecurity measure inhibiting the spread of infectious disease because the causative viruses are known to survive in the environment, sometimes for many days. Survival on environmental surfaces means viruses have the potential to continue spreading. Cleaning of contaminated surfaces in the spaces we use and share has long been regarded as a vital measure to oppose both the incidence and prevalence of infections.

But how can disinfectants used in surface disinfection be relied upon as effective in neutralising the threat of environmental-acquired infection? To gain credibility, disinfectants must be shown to be effective against the microbiological agents of infection. Specialist microbiology laboratories offer disinfectant testing services where manufacturers of cleaning products can have the antiviral efficacy (performance) of their products measured accurately and reliably. Standard laboratory methods exist in order to facilitate ‘a level playing field’ in all laboratory testing, including the measurement of a disinfectant’s antiviral efficacy. Sometimes, however, it is simply not possible for laboratories to test disinfectants against a specific virus, in this case COVID19. Why? Perhaps the virus isn’t available for general distribution within the scientific community, or perhaps the virus is not adaptable to the relevant test method.

Virologists respond to such limitations by submitting one virus with another for testing purposes. The key here is that the surrogate (the virus being introduced to replace the unusable virus) and replaced virus are sufficiently related, then the results generated by testing a disinfectant against the surrogate virus are viewed as indicative of the results that would have been achieved by the same disinfectant against the virus of interest.

The chemical supplier we use commissioned testing of its disinfectant products in response to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. They believe the COVID-19 situation needs high-quality antiviral products, supported by evidence from independent testing, to be available in the marketplace. To this end they can claim anti-coronavirus performance by a number of its disinfectants because these disinfectants have been independently examined using the EN 14476 2013 + A2 2019 Standard Method and shown to be effective at inactivating more than 99.99% of the viruses used in test. Because COVID-19 is a virus that is not available for general distribution within the scientific community, the laboratory necessarily used a surrogate virus and the unambiguous antiviral performance of the Antiviral Disinfectant and Omnicide during the EN 14476 2013 test indicates these products are effective against members of the coronavirus family. Indeed, because the surrogate virus shares a common feature with a wide range of other important viruses these products rightfully claim a potent, broad-spectrum antiviral feature.

Manufacturers of disinfectants and cleaning agents are understandably having their products subjected to relevant testing because of COVID-19. Our supplier, however, have an extensive history of testing their key products against important viruses, including members of the coronavirus family. High quality, proven performance disinfectants provide confidence that environmental decontamination can be addressed and their application to key environments can further reduce the risk of spread of infectious disease.