title: Comparison of the effects of formaldehyde and gaseous ozone on HBV-contaminated hospital quilts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Besides being highly infectious, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of liver disease worldwide. In hospital settings, it is easy for the environment and quilts to be contaminated by HBV patient blood and body fluids. Therefore, HBV can be transmitted to other patients via contaminated environmental surfaces or quilts, resulting in an HBV nosocomial infection. Formaldehyde and ozone are commonly used disinfectants that may influence this infectious situation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical effectiveness of formaldehyde and gaseous ozone for the terminal cleaning of hospital quilts contaminated by HBV.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thin cloth and thick cotton soaked with the serum from high HBV copy number patients were prepared and disinfected using formaldehyde fumigation and gaseous ozone at different times. The copy numbers of HBV DNA in the HBV-contaminated cloth and cotton samples were measured quantitatively with fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  When gaseous ozone was used to disinfect HBV-contaminated quilts for 23 minutes (min), 36 min, 49 min, and 90 min, the HBV DNA copy number displayed no significant decrease compared with the copy number before disinfection (P > 0.05). In comparison, the copy number of the HBV DNA in the cloth group decreased significantly (P < 0.05) after formaldehyde fumigation disinfection for 1 hour (h), and there was no difference when longer times and increased concentrations were used. In the thick cotton group, there was also a significant decrease (P < 0.05) of the HBV DNA copy numbers, but the decrease was not as dramatic. In addition, in this group, the disinfection effect observed at 4 h was the strongest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of ozone to disinfect HBV-contaminated hospital quilts possibly has no effect, whereas, formaldehyde oxide fumigation effectively reduced HBV copy numbers.
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Parasitic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University No. 1 Youyi Road, Yu Zhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Parasitic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University No. 1 Youyi Road, Yu Zhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Ziqiong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Parasitic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University No. 1 Youyi Road, Yu Zhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Parasitic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University No. 1 Youyi Road, Yu Zhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqiong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Che
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Parasitic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University No. 1 Youyi Road, Yu Zhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Tianshuang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Parasitic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University No. 1 Youyi Road, Yu Zhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: Gaseous ozone; HBV; disinfection; formaldehyde