Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.4 Survival of clinically relevant fungi on dry inanimate surfaces
Organisms
Range of survival (environment)
Reference
Neely and Orloff [
79
]
a
Aspergillus
spp
.
30 days
>
Candida
albicans
1 up to 120 days, 24 weeks (in soil-water
mixture)
Neely and Orloff [
79
], Th´raud
et al. [
105
]
a
Neely and Orloff [
79
]
a
Candida
parapsilosis
30 days
>
Candida krusei
11 days
Th´raud et al. [
105
]
a
Cryptococcus
spp.
24 weeks (in soil-water mixture)
Neely and Orloff [
79
]
a
Fusarium
spp
.
>
30 days
Mucor
spp.
>
30 days
Paecilomyces
spp
.
11 days
Torulopsis
glabrata
102-150 days
Kane et al. [
59
]
a
Additional references in Kramer et al. [
64
,
65
]
Moulds are ubiquitous in nature, thermo-tolerant, and can survive in house dust for
long time. Indoor airborne mould measurements underline the survival for several
months [
4
,
5
].
2.3.4 Persistence of Other Pathogenic Microorganisms
Cryptosporidium
spp
.
can induce water-born infection. Their oocysts can survive
for months in surface water [
96
,
20
,
75
,
15
], and up to 120 days in soil [
60
].
Acanthamoeba are one of the most common protozoa in soil, and frequently
found in fresh water and other environmental habitats. An important habitat and
vector for infection are hydrogel contact lenses, resulting in contact lens associated
keratitis caused by acanthamoeba and fusarium [
87
], particularly since the contact
lenses' moist condition supports survival protozoa.
2.3.5 Factors Influencing the Survival of Microorganisms
in the Environment
2.3.5.1 Relative Humidity (RH)
Generally, viruses with lipid envelops, such as most respiratory viruses including
Influenza virus, Para-Influenza virus, Corona virus, Respiratory syncytial virus,
Herpes simplex virus, Measles virus, Rubella virus, and Varicella zoster virus will
tend to survive longer at lower relative humidity (20-30 % RH) [
103
]. However,
Search WWH ::
Custom Search