Autoclaves are essential equipment in the health sector since the sterilization process is carried out through them, using steam at high pressure and temperature, thus eliminating microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and spores.
Any new spread of the new coronavirus could have a negative impact on the current health situation of the international community. In particular, this includes the possible spread of COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 due to failure to adhere to proper safety regulations in biological laboratories. Not only the infection of the company’s own employees poses a risk in this case: the waste from the security zones could also contain traces of coronavirus unless it has been sterilized in accordance with WHO standards.
Why is sterilization such an important process in the fight against coronavirus?
Autoclaving involves the destruction of all forms of harmful microorganisms, including spores. The device that has undergone the sterilization process is free from more than 99% of pathogens. Disinfection is a process that destroys only vegetative forms of microorganisms.
What is the use of the autoclave used in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic?
In hospitals they are used daily to sterilize reusable instruments, for example during surgical operations. In times of pandemic, reusable and disposable masks are also sterilized prior to disposal. This situation requires extreme precautions, so everything must be sterilized – from bandages, dressings to standard sterilization of medical and diagnostic instruments.
What are the ideal autoclaves to combat SARS-CoV-2?
According to the WHO, BSL-2 and BSL-3 biosafety levels are necessary for the safe handling of COVID-19 – laboratories where diagnostic work is performed (e.g. DNA sequencing as part of diagnosis viruses) should comply with the BSL-2 standard, while laboratories in which coronaviruses are grown or present in high concentrations should act on the basis of BSL-3.
In both cases, Kalstein autoclaves are ideal for sterilizing contaminated waste, instruments, culture media, or laboratory equipment to prevent the inadvertent spread of the coronavirus. This is mainly due to three fundamental qualities that the WHO prescribes or recommends as mandatory for sterilization devices that comply with BSL-2 and BSL-3.
Vacuum device
Our autoclaves are equipped with a vacuum device that removes the air from the sterilization chamber of the device using several pulses of vacuum before the actual autoclaving process. This allows cold air to be removed from solids (eg pipette tips, glassware) and porous materials (eg textiles, filters) to ensure the sterilizing effect of the saturated steam that is subsequently injected.
Filtering the air used
A potential danger during autoclaving is the possibility of certain pathogens escaping through the air used during the sterilization process before the temperatures necessary for inactivation have been reached. In coronavirus-related activities, this effect can easily be prevented by using Kalstein autoclaves in combination with the air filtration function used.
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