Hard Surface Carrier Test as a Quantitative Test of Disinfection: A Collaborative Study

Abstract

Abstract The hard surface carrier test (HSCT) recently was proposed as a qualitative test for disinfectant efficacy. A collaborative study of HSCT led to a suggested performance standard of ≤2 or 3 positive carriers out of 60 tested. Subsequently, it was discovered that HSCT can be used as a quantitative test, because the HSCT protocol requires measurement of inoculum level on some carriers. The data allow estimation of the log10 reduction in number of active bacteria. Producers, consumers, and policymakers will be better able to discuss merits of alternative performance standards if the focus is on log reduction of organisms rather than on number of positive carriers. Data from the collaborative study were reanalyzed from this quantitative viewpoint. If the point estimate of log reduction is LR and the 99% lower confidence limit estimate is LLR, the LR values ranged from 7.0 to 9.0 and the LLR values were greater than 6.0 for all disinfectants except the negative control formulation. The total variance for estimated LR is the sum of inter laboratory and intralaboratory variances. The total variance for LR was 0.095 for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 0.251 for Staphylococcus aureus, and 0.118 for Salmonella choleraesuis. Percentages of the variance due to interlaboratory variability were 11% for P. aeruginosa, 52% for S. aureus, and 25% for S. choleraesuis. Chances of making false-effective and false-ineffective decisions can be calculated for the quantitative HSCT. The performance standard can be based on LLR.