UV and violet light can Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity
Mara Biasin, Sergio Strizzi, Andrea Bianco, Alberto Macchi, Olga Utyro, Giovanni Pareschi, Alessia Loffreda, Adalberto Cavalleri, Manuela Lualdi, Daria Trabattoni, Carlo Tacchetti, Davide Mazza, Mario Clerici
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, doi:10.1016/j.jpap.2021.100107
We performed an in-depth analysis of the virucidal effect of discrete wavelengths: UV-C (278 nm), UV-B (308 nm), UV-A (366 nm) and violet (405 nm) on SARS-CoV-2. By using a highly infectious titer of SARS-CoV-2 we observed that the violet light-dose resulting in a 2-log viral inactivation is only 10 4 times less efficient than UV-C light. Moreover, by qPCR (quantitative Polymerase chain reaction) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) approach we verified that the viral titer typically found in the sputum of COVID-19 patients can be completely inactivated by the long UV-wavelengths corresponding to UV-A and UV-B solar irradiation. The comparison of the UV action spectrum on SARS-CoV-2 to previous results obtained on other pathogens suggests that RNA viruses might be particularly sensitive to long UV wavelengths. Our data extend previous results showing that SARS-CoV-2 is highly susceptible to UV light and offer an explanation to the reduced incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection seen in the summer season.
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