Evidence to inform decontamination practices at Ebola holding units (EHUs) and treatment centres is lacking. We conducted an audit of decontamination procedures inside Connaught Hospital EHU in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by assessing environmental swab specimens for evidence of contamination with Ebola virus by RT-PCR. Swabs were collected following discharge of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients ...

The binding specificity and affinity of aptamers have long been harnessed as the key elements in the development of aptamer-based assays, particularly aptasensing application. One promising avenue that is currently explored based on the specificity and affinity of aptamers is the application of aptamers in the decontamination assays. Aptamers have been successfully harnessed as the decontaminat...

The spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria poses a significant threat to human health. Plasma activated liquids (PAL) could be promising alternative for microbial decontamination, where different PAL can possess diverse antimicrobial efficacies and cytotoxic profiles, depending on the range concentration their reactive chemical species. In this research, biological activity plasma water (PAW) t...

Concerns have been raised regarding the availability of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during an influenza pandemic. One possible strategy to mitigate a respirator shortage is to reuse FFRs following a biological decontamination process to render infectious material on the FFR inactive. However, little data exis...

UNLABELLED In accord with as-low-as-reasonably-achievable and good-manufacturing-practice concepts, the present study evaluated the efficiency of radioactivity decontamination of materials commonly used in laboratory surfaces and whether solvent spills on these materials affect the findings. METHODS Four materials were evaluated: stainless steel, a surface comprising one-third acrylic resin a...

Chlorinated ethene contamination is a worldwide relevant health issue. In anaerobic aquifers, highly chlorinated ethenes are transformed by microbially-mediated organohalide respiration metabolism. For this reason, in the last few years, bioremediation interventions have been developed and employed situ for aquifer decontamination. Biostimulation has demonstrated to be efficient enhancing activ...

The efficacy of pulsed light (PL) for the surface decontamination a sliced ready-to-eat cured meat product, salpicão, was studied. slices inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes (107 cfu/g), and then PL treatment applied. Microbial analyses (L. monocytogenes, coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CNS), Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Enterobacteriaceae) were performed immediately after treatment. pH, aw,...

Dental-unit water systems (DUWS) harbor bacterial biofilms, which may serve as a haven for pathogens. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbial load of water from DUWS in general dental practices and the biofouling of DUWS tubing. Water and tube samples were taken from 55 dental surgeries in southwestern England. Contamination was determined by viable counts on environmentally sele...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the capability of accident and emergency (A&E) departments in six health regions of England to safely decontaminate casualties exposed to hazardous chemicals. METHODS In January 1999 a postal questionnaire was sent to the clinical director of all A&E departments in Trent, North and South Thames, South and West, North West and, Anglia and Oxford Health Regions. The quest...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES There has been an extensive invasion of tuberculosis at the global level by multidrug resistant as well as extensively drug resistant organisms. Attempts to recover the pathogen in pure culture have frequently failed since the specimens are often highly contaminated and also due to use of insufficient or over-active decontamination procedures. Hence in the present study ...