Comparative Radiosensitivity of Pathogenic Bacteria and Viruses
Abstract
The radiosterilization of medical tools has as its principal advantage over autoclaving the fact that it can be done without raising the temperature, and over chemical sterilization methods the fact that it allows the material to be placed in a hermetically sealed container prior to sterilization. Nevertheless, inactivation of microbe colonies by ionizing radiations is never an all-or-nothing operation. The sterilizing dose always depends on the amount of microorganisms present at the outset and on the angle of their inactivation curve. If it is decided to use a single dose high enough to destroy all the microorganisms, one risks radiochemical changes which, for some biological products, greatly offset the advantages of the method. One should be able to apply a dose which is sufficient to destroy that organism, reducing to a minimum the risk of alteration of the irradiated products. We have determined the inactivation curve for gamma radiation of three important pathogenic organisms: an aerobic bacterium, the tuberculosis bacillus; an anaerobe, the agent of gaseous gangrene; and a virus, the influenza virus. We have also studied in the case of mycobacterium tuberculosis and of Clostridium perfringens, the influence of microbic concentration and length of incubation on the results; in the case of the virus, the influence of the radiation temperature. We have determined the inactivation curve of Pseudomonas, a frequent contaminant of viral influenza cultures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 20, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0866746
Entities
People
- C. Plante
- J. C. Paquette
- R. Ghys
- R. Vendergoten
- V. Fredette