Our surrounding environment, especially often-touched contaminated surfaces, plays an important role in the transmission of pathogens in society. The shortage of effective sanitizing fluids, however, became a global challenge quickly after the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019. In this study, we present the effect of surfactants on coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) virucidal efficiency in sanitizing fluids. Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), and two commercial dish soap and liquid hand soap were studied with the goal of evaporation rate reduction in sanitizing liquids to maximize surface contact time. Twelve fluids with different recipes composed of ethanol, isopropanol, SDBS, SLS, glycerin, and water of standardized hardness (WSH) were tested for their evaporation time and virucidal efficiency. Evaporation time increased by 17–63% when surfactant agents were added to the liquid. In addition, surfactant incorporation enhanced the virucidal efficiency between 15 and 27% according to the 4-field test in the EN 16615:2015 European Standard method. Most importantly, however, we found that surfactant addition provides a synergistic effect with alcohols to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study provides a simple, yet effective solution to improve the virucidal efficiency of commonly used sanitizers.

Our surrounding environment, especially often-touched contaminated surfaces, plays an important role in the transmission of pathogens in society. The shortage of effective sanitizing fluids, however, became a global challenge quickly after the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019. In this study, we present the effect of surfactants on coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) virucidal efficiency in sanitizing fluids. Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), and two commercial dish soap and liquid hand soap were studied with the goal of evaporation rate reduction in sanitizing liquids to maximize surface contact time. Twelve fluids with different recipes composed of ethanol, isopropanol, SDBS, SLS, glycerin, and water of standardized hardness (WSH) were tested for their evaporation time and virucidal efficiency. Evaporation time increased by 17-63% when surfactant agents were added to the liquid. In addition, surfactant incorporation enhanced the virucidal efficiency between 15-27% according to the 4-field test in the EN 16615:2015 European Standard method. Most importantly, however, we found that surfactant addition provides a synergistic effect with alcohols to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study provides a simple, yet effective solution to improve the virucidal efficiency of commonly used sanitizers.

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I n December 2019, an outbreak of acute respiratory illness, named as the COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), emerged in Wuhan, China.[1] The disease quickly spreads to Chinese cities and other parts of the world. The novel coronavirus is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The same as SARS-CoV, the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) uses angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to enter the host target cell but mainly spreads through the lower respiratory tract.[2] Previous reports show that fever (98%), cough (76%), dyspnea (55%), myalgia, or fatigue (44%) are the most common complaints of patients.[3-5] Gastrointestinal involvement, a(cute cardiac injury, and acute kidney injury caused by COVID-19 are also reported in other studies.[4,6]. By affecting the respiratory system, COVID-19 rapidly progresses to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in some patients and makes them likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) or die.[7,8] Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab specimens tested by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) are the most commonly used methods to diagnose COVID-19. In this report, we investigate and discuss an unusual case of COVID-19 who was not identified as infected in his first visit despite of performing the RT-PCR test using both nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs. However, the patient was again referred after 3 days, with a severely progressed ARDS, leading to his death. CASE REPORT A 33-year-old man was referred to the COVID-19 screening clinic of Abu-Ali-Sina Hospital (in Shiraz, Iran), with complaints of dry cough, sore throat, a fever of 38.2°C, chills, muscle pain, and with no other apparent symptoms on April 28, 2020. He had no specific underlying disease, and he denied any involvement with people suspected of having COVID-19. His family members did not have COVID-19 either. On arrival, he had a pulse rate of 80 beats/min, respiratory rate of 16 breaths/min, blood pressure of 115/75 mmHg, and oxygen saturation of 97% on room air, and he did not have dyspnea. Based on his symptoms, the patient was considered a suspected case of COVID-19, according to the Iran Ministry of Health Protocol for COVID-19. Therefore, an RT-PCR test by taking