Table 2.2.
Published data on survival of nosocomial and community acquired pathogens on various inanimate surfaces
| Organism | Range of survival (environment) | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Acinetobacter spp. | 3 days to 1 year (in-vitro) | Wagenvoort and Joosten [117], Espinal et al. [36]a |
| 36 days within biofilm vs. 15 days for non-biofilm-forming strains | ||
| Bordetella pertussis | 3 to >10 days; in pernasal swabs: >4 days | Hunter [57], Walther and Ewald [121]a |
| Campylobacter jejuni | >6 days, in water >60 days | González and Hänninen [44]a |
| Clostridium difficile spores | 5 months | Weber et al. [123]a |
| C. difficile, vegetative form | 15 min (dry surface) | |
| 6 h (moist surface) | ||
| Chlamydia pneumoniae | ≤96 h | Fukumoto et al. [40], Haider et al. [51], Matsuo et al. [70]a |
| C. trachomatis | <1 week | |
| Chlamydia psittaci | 15 days to months (environment) | Wendel [125]a |
| Corynebacterium diphtheriae | 7 days to 6 months | Walther and Ewald [121]a |
| Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis | 1–8 days, up to several weeks (environment) | Yeruham et al. [129]a, Dorella et al. [31] |
| Enterococcus spp. including VRE | 5 days up to 30 months | Robine et al. [97], Wagenvoort et al. [116]a |
| Escherichia coli | 1.5 h to 16 months | Guan and Holley [46], Erickson et al. [35], Chauret [19]a, Duffitt et al. [33] |
| E. coli O157:H7 | 27 days on spinach leaves, 179 days in soil, 98 days in water | |
| Haemophilus influenzae | 12 days | a |
| Helicobacter pylori | ≤90 min; in water: 2–30 days | West et al. [124], Percival and Thomas [89]a |
| Klebsiella spp. | 2 h to >30 months, ≤144 h in detergent solution | Beadle and Verran [6]a |
| Listeria spp. | 1 day–months, 141 days in water | Budzińska et al. [13]a |
| Mycobacterium bovis | >2 months | a |
| Mycobacterium tuberculosis | 1 day up to 4 months | Walther and Ewald [121]a |
| Neisseria gonorrhoeae | 1–3 days | a |
| Neisseria meningitidis | 72 h | Tzeng et al. [110]a |
| Parachlamydia acanthamoebae | <4 weeks, in presence of blood <7 weeks | Fukumoto et al. [40]a |
| Proteus vulgaris | 1–2 days | a |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 6 h up to 16 months; on dry floor: 5 weeks; in aerosol: few hours | Clifton et al. [21]a |
| Salmonella typhi | 6 h up to 4 weeks | a |
| Salmonella typhimurium | 10 days up to 4.2 years | a |
| Salmonella spp. | 1 day | a |
| non typhoid Salmonella spp. | 336 days | Morita et al. [76]a |
| Salmonella enteritidis (broiler farms) | 1 year | Davies and Wray [27]a |
| Salmonella enteritica sv. Tennessie | 30 days (dried in desiccated milk powder) | Aviles et al. [1]a |
| Serratia marcescens | 3 days up to 2 months; on dry floor: 5 weeks | a |
| Shigella spp. | 2 days up to 5 months | Ghosh and Sehgal [42]a |
| 3–11 days in water | ||
| Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA and MSSA | 7 days up to 1 year (in-vitro) | Oie and Kamiya [81], Wagenvoort and Penders [118], Huang et al. [54, 55], Noyce et al. [80], Tolba et al. [108], Petti et al. [90]a |
| 9–12 days (plastic surfaces) | ||
| 72 h (stainless steel) | ||
| 6 h (copper) | ||
| ≤28 days (dry mops) | ||
| ≤14 days (in water) | ||
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | 1 day up to 30 month | Walsh and Camilli [120]a |
| Streptococcus pyogenes | 3 days up to 6.5 months | Wagenvoort et al. [119]a |
| Vibrio cholerae | 1–7 days | a |
| Yersinia enterocolitica | Up to 64 weeks (in water) | Guan and Holley [46]a |
| Yersinia pestis | Up to 5 days | Rose et al. [98]a |