Spread of influenza infection is mitigated not only through antiviral agents and vaccination, but also by treatment of environmental surfaces with surface disruptive chemical germicides. Little data is available on the comparative susceptibility of pandemic strains of Influenza A to chemical agents. We have embarked on a systematic study of the effect of various germicides on strains of influenza. The present work deals with BAC, a dual active antimicrobial agent accepted world-wide as both a disinfectant and antiseptic and various subtypes of Influenza A.1 The major antigenic changes2 in the influenza genome over the past 50 years have involved hemagglutinins H1, H2, and H3 producing the pandemics of 1957 (A/Japan/305/57/H1N1), 1968 (A/Hong Kong/8/68/H3N2), and the novel swine flu pandemic of 2009 (A/California/04/2009/H1N1). These are the subtypes that we ave studied. Clearly, the question arises as to whether the changes in antigenicity are coupled with changes in germicide susceptibility.
Authors: Daniel Prince, Herbert Prince, Chuan Wang
Note: Article is found on pages 310-312. For easy access type page 257 at the top to reach the correct page.
