AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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Measurements of Airborne Influenza Viruses using a Personal Electrostatic Particle Concentrator and Vertical Flow Assay based Electrochemical Paper Sensors
Jyoti Bhardwaj, MYEONG-WOO KIM, Seongkyeol Hong, Jaesung Jang, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, S. Korea
Abstract Number: 71 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Airborne influenza viruses can cause serious respiratory diseases and they are one of the biggest threats to human health. To monitor the threats effectively, we previously developed a personal electrostatic particle concentrator (EPC) for gentle sampling of submicrometer airborne virus particles, and the concentration of infectious T3 phage collected was 1682 times higher in the EPC than in the SKC BioSampler. In the present study, a portable vertical flow assay (VFA) based electrochemical immunosensor was used to detect the airborne influenza virus particles captured in the EPC. The capture antibody specific to the influenza virus was immobilized on the gold electrode; antibody-peroxidase conjugate (detection antibody) was immobilized on the conjugate pad. An asymmetrical membrane prepared by attaching the nylon membrane (pore size 0.45 µm) on the lower side of Whatman filter paper (pore size 11 µm) was used as a sample pad. This sample pad acted as a filter membrane which allows the smaller particles (<0.45 µm) to pass through it and retains the large particles (dust particles etc.) on the upper side of the membrane. The measurements were conducted by varying the collection time with constant applied voltage (5kV) and sampling flow rate (1.2 L/min). After collecting, the media containing the virus particles was transferred to the sample holes of the immunosensors. The immunosensor showed 512 PFU/mL within 16 min including 10 min sampling time. The concentration of the virus particles increased with increase in sampling time (10‒30 min). These results were independently confirmed by commercialized ELISA Kits. This combination can provide a simple and cost-effective monitoring system for bioaerosols.