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J Clin Microbiol. 1984 September; 20(3): 486-489

Physicochemical inactivation of Lassa, Ebola, and Marburg viruses and effect on clinical laboratory analyses.

ABSTRACT

Clinical specimens from patients infected with Lassa, Ebola, or Marburg virus may present a serious biohazard to laboratory workers. We have examined the effects of heat, alteration of pH, and gamma radiation on these viruses in human blood and on the electrolytes, enzymes, and coagulation factors measured in laboratory tests that are important in the care of an infected patient. Heating serum at 60 degrees C for 1 h reduced high titers of these viruses to noninfectious levels without altering the serum levels of glucose, blood urea nitrogen, and electrolytes. Dilution of blood in 3% acetic acid, diluent for a leukocyte count, inactivated all of these viruses. All of the methods tested for viral inactivation markedly altered certain serum proteins, making these methods unsuitable for samples that are to be tested for certain enzyme levels and coagulation factors.

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• Hersberger, M., Nusbaumer, C., Scholer, A., Knopfli, V., von Eckardstein, A. (2004). Influence of Practicable Virus Inactivation Procedures on Tests for Frequently Measured Analytes in Plasma. Clin. Chem. 50: 944-946 [Full Text]