The transmission of viral pathogens through contact surfaces, or fomite transmission, in the built environment is an important but largely overlooked route. Viruses can be shed from humans with body fluids, such as saliva and urine, and contaminate indoor contact surfaces. The virus affinity with surfaces is of great importance for assessing the virus fate and health risk. However, our understanding on mechanisms that control the affinity of viruses with contact surfaces in the presence of body fluids is not sufficient to develop efficient pathogen control strategies. In this study, we study the interactions of a coronavirus strain (MHV-A59) with four representative contact surfaces: silica (glass), stainless steel, polystyrene (plastic), and cellulose (wood). We first investigate the deposition of the coronavirus to the surfaces using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) in presence of simulated urine or saliva. We further examine the release of the coronavirus from the surfaces upon rinsing with water. To understand the mechanisms of the coronavirus deposition to and release from the surfaces, we further measure the interaction forces between a virus-coated probe and the examined surfaces using an atomic force microscope (AFM). Our results show that the deposition kinetics of coronavirus on surfaces depends on the nature of the surface as well as the body fluids in which coronavirus is dispersed. The deposited coronavirus on the four surfaces is mostly irreversible upon rinsing with ultrapure water. The virus-surface interaction energies measured using AFM explain a substantial fraction of the observed variability in virus deposition on different surfaces. Our results underscore the importance of surface characteristics and body fluids in controlling the affinity of viruses with surfaces.

Probing the interactions between coronavirus with contact surfaces in the presence of body fluids

ACS Fall 2021

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