mSphere (Apr 2021)

The Stability of Model Human Coronaviruses on Textiles in the Environment and during Health Care Laundering

  • Lucy Owen,
  • Maitreyi Shivkumar,
  • Katie Laird

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00316-21
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 2

Abstract

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Synthetic textiles such as polyester could potentially act as fomites of human coronaviruses, indicating the importance of infection control procedures during handling of contaminated textiles prior to laundering. This study provides novel evidence that human coronaviruses can persist on textiles for up to 3 days and are readily transferred from polyester textile to other surfaces after 72 h of incubation.