MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gerardo U. Lopez, M.A.T, M.Ed., Ph.D. Research Associate Soil, Water and Environmental Science The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Lopez: The background for this study was based on the missing data gaps on fomite-to-finger transfer in the literature that could be used as input parameters for Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessments (QMRA). This research was supported by the Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment, funded by the U.S. Environmental Agency’s Science To Achieve Results (STAR) program and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Two different studies were conducted: 1st “Transfer Efficiency of Bacteria and Viruses from Porous and Nonporous Fomites to Fingers under Different Relative Humidity Conditions”   Appl. Environ. Microbial. 2013, 79(18):5728 and 2nd “Evaluation of a Disinfectant Wipe Intervention on Fomite-to-Finger Microbial Transfer”. This research was supported by The Clorox Company. Based on the findings of these two studies along with other input parameters drawn from previous studies, we were able to develop a risk assessment that focused on forecasting the exposure to Campylobacter jejuni contaminated surfaces during preparation of chicken fillets and how using a disinfectant wipe intervention to clean a contaminated work area decreases the risk of infection following the preparation of raw chicken fillet in a domestic kitchen. The title of our new publication is “Impact of Disinfectant Wipes on  the Risk of Campylobacter jejuni Infection During Raw Chicken Preparation in Domestic Kitchens” Accepted for publication in Journal of Applied Microbiology. Editor's note: For EPA Registered Disinfectant Wipes The main findings were that the annual risk of C. jejuni infections showed a 99% reduction per person per event from 2 out of 10 to 2 out of 1000. (more…)