Germs can survive on plastic surfaces for 24 hours or more
THURSDAY, July 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Toys help spread the flu and other viruses because germs can survive on plastic surfaces for 24 hours or more, according to a study published recently in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
Richard Bearden II, of Georgia State University, and colleagues tested the ability of enveloped viruses to survive after being placed on a plastic toy.
The researchers found that activation was ~2 log10 after 24 hours at 60 percent relative humidity and 6.8 log10 at 10 hours at 40 percent relative humidity.
“I think the main focus should be for parents, daycare facilities, doctor’s offices and other places where children share toys to implement some type of strategy for decontamination to make sure those toys aren’t a reservoir for disease,” Bearden said in a university news release.
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