Cleaning of surfaces to prevent the flu
State of California—Health and Human Services Agency
California Department of Public Health
MARK B HORTON, MD, MSPH ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Director Governor
Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of Communicable Disease Control
1616 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95814
Internet Address: www.cdph.ca.gov
Pandemic (H1N1) 2009
Health Alert Update for Providers, Schools, and Businesses
September 3, 2009
This Health Alert Update provides recommendations for cleaning of surfaces to prevent Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza transmission in non-healthcare settings.
A. Cleaning Surfaces to Prevent Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 Transmission in Non-Healthcare Settings
The California Department of Public Health CDPH) has received frequent requests for recommendations for the cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces outside of healthcare settings (e.g., desks and tables in schools and offices). Previous recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDPH have referred to the use of disinfectants. However, influenza is an extremely fragile virus, remaining infectious for only minutes upon exposure to air and is easy to kill. It can remain infectious for hours when protected from exposure to air by material such as respiratory secretions, which can be deposited on environmental surfaces by infected persons. Simple cleaning will remove most of virus along with other material,leaving the remaining virus to be exposed to air and rendered non-infectious withinminutes. The following recommendations are based on current CDC guidances forbusiness and schools.
B. Clean surfaces and items that are more likely to have frequent hand contact by multiple people
Frequently clean all workplace/school surfaces that commonly touched by multiplepeople, such as elevator buttons, shared equipment, doorknobs, etc. Use the cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas and follow the directions on the label. No additional disinfection beyond routine cleaning is recommended.
School staff should routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often (forexample, shared keyboards) with the cleaners they typically use. They should also clean these areas immediately when visibly soiled. Use the cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas. Special cleaning with bleach and other non-detergent based cleaners is not necessary. CDPH does not believe any additional disinfection ofenvironmental surfaces beyond the recommended routine cleaning is required.