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Research Article | Applied and Environmental Science

Collection of Viable Aerosolized Influenza Virus and Other Respiratory Viruses in a Student Health Care Center through Water-Based Condensation Growth

Maohua Pan, Tania S. Bonny, Julia Loeb, Xiao Jiang, John A. Lednicky, Arantzazu Eiguren-Fernandez, Susanne Hering, Z. Hugh Fan, Chang-Yu Wu
Lutgarde Raskin, Editor
Maohua Pan
a Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Tania S. Bonny
b Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
c Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Julia Loeb
b Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
c Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Xiao Jiang
d J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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John A. Lednicky
b Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
c Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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  • ORCID record for John A. Lednicky
Arantzazu Eiguren-Fernandez
e Aerosol Dynamics Inc., Berkeley, California, USA
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Susanne Hering
e Aerosol Dynamics Inc., Berkeley, California, USA
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Z. Hugh Fan
d J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
f Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Chang-Yu Wu
a Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Lutgarde Raskin
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Roles: Editor
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DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00251-17
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ABSTRACT

The dynamics and significance of aerosol transmission of respiratory viruses are still controversial, for the major reasons that virus aerosols are inefficiently collected by commonly used air samplers and that the collected viruses are inactivated by the collection method. Without knowledge of virus viability, infection risk analyses lack accuracy. This pilot study was performed to (i) determine whether infectious (viable) respiratory viruses in aerosols could be collected from air in a real world environment by the viable virus aerosol sampler (VIVAS), (ii) compare and contrast the efficacy of the standard bioaerosol sampler, the BioSampler, with that of the VIVAS for the collection of airborne viruses in a real world environment, and (iii) gain insights for the use of the VIVAS for respiratory virus sampling. The VIVAS operates via a water vapor condensation process to enlarge aerosolized virus particles to facilitate their capture. A variety of viable human respiratory viruses, including influenza A H1N1 and H3N2 viruses and influenza B viruses, were collected by the VIVAS located at least 2 m from seated patients, during a late-onset 2016 influenza virus outbreak. Whereas the BioSampler when operated following our optimized parameters also collected virus aerosols, it was nevertheless overall less successful based on a lower frequency of virus isolation in most cases. This side-by-side comparison highlights some limitations of past studies based on impingement-based sampling, which may have generated false-negative results due to either poor collection efficiency and/or virus inactivation due to the collection process.

IMPORTANCE The significance of virus aerosols in the natural transmission of respiratory diseases has been a contentious issue, primarily because it is difficult to collect or sample virus aerosols using currently available air sampling devices. We tested a new air sampler based on water vapor condensation for efficient sampling of viable airborne respiratory viruses in a student health care center as a model of a real world environment. The new sampler outperformed the industry standard device (the SKC BioSampler) in the collection of natural virus aerosols and in maintaining virus viability. These results using the VIVAS indicate that respiratory virus aerosols are more prevalent and potentially pose a greater inhalation biohazard than previously thought. The VIVAS thus appears to be a useful apparatus for microbiology air quality tests related to the detection of viable airborne viruses.

  • Copyright © 2017 Pan et al.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license .

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Collection of Viable Aerosolized Influenza Virus and Other Respiratory Viruses in a Student Health Care Center through Water-Based Condensation Growth
Maohua Pan, Tania S. Bonny, Julia Loeb, Xiao Jiang, John A. Lednicky, Arantzazu Eiguren-Fernandez, Susanne Hering, Z. Hugh Fan, Chang-Yu Wu
mSphere Oct 2017, 2 (5) e00251-17; DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00251-17

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Collection of Viable Aerosolized Influenza Virus and Other Respiratory Viruses in a Student Health Care Center through Water-Based Condensation Growth
Maohua Pan, Tania S. Bonny, Julia Loeb, Xiao Jiang, John A. Lednicky, Arantzazu Eiguren-Fernandez, Susanne Hering, Z. Hugh Fan, Chang-Yu Wu
mSphere Oct 2017, 2 (5) e00251-17; DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00251-17
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KEYWORDS

infectious agent
infirmary
sampling
transmission
virus aerosol

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