AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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Collection of Airborne Influenza Virus in a Student Health Care Center through Water-Based Condensation Growth
MAOHUA PAN, Julia Loeb, Tania Bonny, Xiao Jiang, John Lednicky, Arantzazu Eiguren Fernandez, Susanne Hering, Hugh Fan, Chang-Yu Wu, University of Florida
Abstract Number: 87 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Transmission of influenza virus between humans mainly occurs through three routes: direct or indirect contact, large droplet spray, and aerosol. The relative importance of the aerosol route remains contentious since there is limited direct evidence of infection mediated by virus-containing aerosols. One of the reasons for this lack of evidence is the challenge in collecting aerosols of infectious influenza viruses.
In this study, ambient virus aerosol particles were collected by a newly developed VIable Virus Aerosol Sampler (VIVAS) and by an SKC BioSampler at a student health center during the 2015-2016 flu season. The VIVAS works by particle size-amplification through water vapor condensation and gentle deposition of the enlarged particles onto liquid collection media. In contrast, the BioSampler is an impinger that deposits collected aerosols onto collection media in a more aggressive swirling motion. Our prior study with lab-generated influenza H1N1virus showed much higher efficiency for viable collection with the VIVAS. In the student health center study reported here, both samplers were operated in parallel under the same parameters. Efforts were made to isolate viable human respiratory viruses by inoculation of the collected material onto a variety of indicator cells lines. Whereas viable viruses were collected by both air samplers, virus-induced cytopathic effects were observed first in cells inoculated with material collected using the VIVAS, suggesting a higher concentration of viable viruses therein compared to material collected using the BioSampler. Influenza A and B and other respiratory viruses were isolated. After genomic sequencing to confirm identities, quantitative PCR and RT-PCR tests were performed. The collection efficiency for all viruses was higher using the VIVAS than using the BioSampler. All these suggest that the VIVAS is a promising device for effective sampling of viable influenza virus in healthcare facilities.