Aims: To study the pulsed ultraviolet (UV) inactivation of poliovirus and adenovirus.
Methods and results: Viral suspensions of 2 ml volume were exposed to varying numbers of polychromatic light pulses emitted from a xenon flashlamp. Ten pulses produced an approximately 4 log(10) reduction in poliovirus titre, and no infectious poliovirus remained after 25 pulses. With adenovirus, 10 pulses resulted in an approximately 1 log(10) reduction in infectivity. Adenovirus required 100 pulses to produce an approximately 3 log(10) reduction in infectivity, and 200 pulses to produce a greater than 4 log(10) reduction.
Conclusions: Adenovirus was more resistant to pulsed UV treatment than poliovirus although both viruses showed susceptibility to the treatment.
Significance and impact of the study: Pulsed UV-light treatment proved successful in the inactivation of poliovirus and adenovirus, and represents an alternative to continuous-wave UV treatment.