No abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), especially N95 respirators. Efficient, effective and economically feasible methods for large-scale PPE decontamination are urgently needed. Aims: (1) to develop protocols for effectively decontaminating PPE using vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP); (2) to develop novel approaches that decrease set up and take down time while also increasing decontamination capacity (3) to test decontamination efficiency for N95 respirators heavily contaminated by makeup or moisturizers. Methods: We converted a decommissioned Biosafety Level 3 laboratory into a facility that could be used to decontaminate N95 respirators. N95 respirators were hung on metal racks, stacked in piles, placed in paper bags or covered with makeup or moisturizer. A VHP VICTORYTM unit from STERIS was used to inject VHP into the facility. Biological and chemical indicators were used to validate the decontamination process. Findings: N95 respirators individually hung on metal racks were successfully decontaminated using VHP. N95 respirators were also successfully decontaminated when placed in closed paper bags or if stacked in piles of up to six. Stacking reduced the time needed to arrange N95 respirators for decontamination by approximately two-thirds while almost tripling facility capacity. Makeup and moisturizer creams did not interfere with the decontamination process. Conclusions: Respirator stacking can reduce the hands-on time and increase decontamination capacity. When personalization is needed, respirators can be decontaminated in labeled paper bags. Make up or moisturizers do not appear to interfere with VHP decontamination.

Objectives Zika virus (ZIKV) has become an epidemic in several countries and was declared a major public health issue by the WHO. Although ZIKV infection is asymptomatic or shows mild fever-related symptoms in most people, the virus can be transmitted from a pregnant mother to the fetus, resulting in severe brain developmental abnormalities, including microcephaly. Multiple groups have identified developmental neuronal and neuronal progenitor compromise during ZIKV infection within the fetal brain, but little is known about whether ZIKV could infect human astrocytes and its effect on the developing brain. Thus, our objective was to determine astrocyte ZiKV infection in a developmental-dependent manner. Methods We analyze infection of pure cultures of astrocytes and mixed cultures of neurons and astrocytes in response to ZIKV using plaque assays, confocal, and electron microscopy to identify infectivity, ZIKV accumulation and intracellular distribution as well as apoptosis and interorganelle dysfunction. Results Here, we demonstrated that ZIKV enters, infects, replicates, and accumulates in large quantities in human fetal astrocytes in a developmental-dependent manner. Astrocyte infection and intracellular viral accumulation resulted in neuronal apoptosis, and we propose astrocytes are a ZIKV reservoir during brain development. Conclusions Our data identify astrocytes in different stages of development as major contributors to the devastating effects of ZIKV in the developing brain.