Abstract Number: 240 Working Group: Health Related Aerosols
Abstract Several viruses such as Influenza can be transmitted by the airborne route. However, little is known about their aerosolization, propagation, and detection in aerosol state. Apart from specific but time consuming and costly assays like PCR, there are few if any generic approaches to assess viral presence in air. We have already developed and validated a rapid and cheap screening test for the presence of certain viruses by using a virus-specific neuraminidase substrate. Here, we studied the effect of aerosolization and sampling on the neuraminidase activity.
A purified neuraminidase from Clostridium perfringens (SIGMA) was our model for this study. It was aerosolized using a TSI model 9302 atomizer into a GenaMini aerosol chamber (SCL MedTech). Alexa fluor 555 was aerosolized with the enzyme to assess the capture efficiency of the samplers. Air sampling was performed using a Biosampler (SKC) at 12.5 liters per minute for 20 minutes and 0.8 micro-meter polycarbonate filters (SKC) at 10.0 liters per minute for 25 minutes. 250 liters of air were collected by each sampler.
The analysis of the Alexa fluor 555 collected in our samples demonstrated that the Biosampler was more efficient than 0.8 micro-meter polycarbonate filters to collect the particles generated in our system. Moreover, this sampler causes 10 times less damage to the enzyme than sampling on filters.
The Biosampler is a good sampler to collect microorganisms that possess neuraminidase because it preserves the activity of the enzyme more than dry sampling on filters. Those results will have to be confirmed with airborne viruses (Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Togaviruses). Early detection of viral presence in air would permit measurement of potential threats, for example in hospitals, agricultural buildings or military establishments where soldiers are housed. It would allow the quick implementation of measures to reduce the spread of the infection, like quarantine and vaccination.