Case study: Aerosol disinfection in a hotel against norovirus

Disinfection of rooms to contain a Norovirus outbreak

Noroviruses cause severe gastrointestinal infections and are highly contagious. They spread through infectious aerosols, among other things. This is why they are difficult to contain with classic spray and wipe disinfection alone.

Situation description

During an event at the group house of a seminar hotel, a norovirus infection breaks out and spreads rapidly. After the departure of the sick guests, an external professional cleaning company is called in to clean the house and thoroughly disinfect all accessible surfaces using manual spray-wipe disinfection. Believing the situation to be resolved, the house is reoccupied, but shortly thereafter, norovirus causes illness among the new guests again. The disinfection company is called back and decides to perform an additional whole-room disinfection to address any remaining gaps.

Details

Noroviruses are highly resistant to environmental factors and can survive on contaminated surfaces for up to 12 days. Additionally, they spread rapidly through aerosols, settling on all surfaces in the room.

Implementation

All accessible surfaces are cleaned and manually disinfected again by professional staff. Subsequently, each room undergoes aerosol disinfection. The CT20 aerosol device is moved from room to room shortly after the entire disinfectant quantity is dispersed, handled by a properly protected staff member. The door is only opened briefly and quickly closed again. This method allows for the disinfection of all rooms in the house within the same day using 3D-aHP aerosol disinfection. Chemical indicators are placed in each room to monitor the distribution of the disinfectant, showing a color change upon contact with H2O2 aerosols. All rooms remain closed overnight, extending beyond the necessary exposure time.

Result

The chemical indicators show an even distribution of the disinfectant throughout the rooms. The house is then cleared for use, and no further norovirus infections occur. The seminar hotel decides to purchase the CT20 aerosol system and receives training on its operation. Since then, the device is used to disinfect rooms with suspected sick guests (including flu, cold, fever, etc.).