Simulated surface and toilet contamination during norovirus gastroenteritis: The role of toilet flushing, murine norovirus persistence, and inactivation by household and toilet cleaners

JE Konkol, TL Meister, B Becker, D Paulmann, E Steinmann, D Todt, S Evers, A Dotzauer, M Weide, FHH Brill

The Journal of Hospital Infection | DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2026.05.042 | Published online May 29, 2026

Aims: This study investigated the persistence of murine norovirus (MNV) on bathroom surfaces and evaluated the virucidal performance of household and toilet cleaners against MNV in simulated contamination and cleaning scenarios.

Methods and Results: MNV stability was assessed on common household surfaces. We found MNV to be stable for 14 days on stainless steel, glass, ceramic tile, and plastic and 21 days on terry cloth. Due to the prolonged survival on inanimate surfaces different household products were evaluated regarding their virucidal activity. A surfactant based, acid bathroom-cleaner and a QAC-, acid- and surfactant based disinfectant cleaner had only minor virucidal activity in a standardized carrier test. The surfactant based, moderate alkaline all-purpose cleaner demonstrated increased virucidal activity when applied in higher concentrations for an extended periods with mechanical action in a practical 4-field test. A hydrochloric acid-based toilet cleaner, evaluated with a new method, which simulated MNV contamination during toilet flushing followed by cleaning, and subsequent sampling of various areas, demonstrated an effective reduction in infectious viral loads.

Conclusions: Norovirus gastroenteritis carries a considerable risk of indirect transmission at home due to prolonged viral persistence on common household surfaces. The usage of commercially available household cleaners needs to be carefully evaluated as not all of them demonstrated high virucidal activity. The hydrochloric acid-based toilet cleaner demonstrated an effective MNV reduction. In future studies, this experimental method could help evaluate the antiviral effectiveness of toilet cleaners under real-life conditions.