Ozone disinfection for viruses with applications in healthcare environments: a scoping review.

Milena Suemi Irie,Gisele Rodrigues Da Silva,Camilla Christian Gomes Moura,Lia Dietrich,Luiz Renato Paranhos,Gabriela Leite De Souza,Priscilla Barbosa Ferreira Soares

doi:10.1590/1807-3107bor-2022.vol36.0006

Milena Suemi Irie, Gisele Rodrigues Da Silva + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2022.vol36.0006

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Abstract

The aim of this scoping review was to provide sufficient information about the effectiveness of ozone gas in virus inactivation of surfaces and objects under different environmental conditions. The review was performed according to the list of PRISMA SrC recommendations and the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis for Scoping Reviews. The review was registered in Open Science Framework (OSF). EMBASE (Ovid), Lilacs, LIVIVO, MEDLINE (PubMed), SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science were primary sources, and "gray literature" was searched in OpenGray and OpenThesis. A study was included if it reported primary data on the effect of ozone gas application for vehicle-borne and airborne virus inactivation. No language or publication date restriction was applied. The search was conduct on July 1, 2020. A total of 16,120 studies were screened, and after exclusion of noneligible studies, fifteen studies fulfilled all selection criteria. Application of ozone gas varied in terms of concentration, ozone exposure period and the devices used to generate ozone gas. Twelve studies showed positive results for inactivation of different virus types, including bacteriophages, SARS-CoV-2 surrogates and other vehicle-borne viruses. Most of the studies were classified as unclear regarding sponsorship status. Although most of the population has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19, disinfection of environments, surfaces, and objects is an essential prevention strategy to control the spread of this disease. The results of this Scoping Review demonstrate that ozone gas is promising for viral disinfection of surfaces.

Highlights

SARS-CoV-2 spread from China worldwide in less than 4 months, directly impacting the economy, health and lifestyle of affected countries
Transmission can occur via human-to-human contact, contact with infected surfaces, or airborne transmission, which occurs through the mouth, nose, and eyes or through inhalation of small respiratory droplets suspended in the air.[1,2]
There is currently no approved and effective antiviral treatment against SARS-CoV-2,1,3 and ongoing COVID-19 vaccination programs have not reached most of the population; prevention remains the main strategy

Summary

Introduction

SARS-CoV-2 spread from China worldwide in less than 4 months, directly impacting the economy, health and lifestyle of affected countries. Transmission can occur via human-to-human contact, contact with infected surfaces (fomites or skin-to-skin), or airborne transmission, which occurs through the mouth, nose, and eyes or through inhalation of small respiratory droplets suspended in the air.[1,2]. Considering the difficulty in directly conducting research with SARS-CoV-2, which requires biosafety level 3 (BSL3) or higher, many studies using surrogate viruses have been conducted to develop methods to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among the numerous disinfection and sanitization methods proposed,[6] devices that generate ozone are commonly applied due to the ability of gaseous ozone to penetrate into all areas of a room, furniture and other objects.[7]

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