Selective Detection of Airborne Viable Influenza Virus via Capsid Integrity PCR

SANGSOO CHOI, Amin Piri, Jiwoo Jung, Sanggwon An, Jungho Hwang, Yonsei university

     Abstract Number: 85
     Working Group: Bioaerosols

Abstract
Airborne viruses cause respiratory diseases and even recent pandemics, so monitoring is important. However, not all airborne viruses exist in an infectious state. Airborne viable viruses potentially cause infection, but non-viable viruses or nucleic acids cannot cause infection. Many of the airborne virus monitoring methods use gold standard PCR as a method of detection.

PCR is a nucleic acid based and has the advantage of being very sensitive and reliable, but it is unknown whether the virus collected from the air is viable. In order to know whether the virus collected from the air is viable, the culture method is essential, but it has the disadvantage of being difficult and taking a long time. Therefore, in this study, capsid integrity PCR was performed by adding a preprocessing step to the normal PCR method to quickly determine the viability of airborne viruses.

Monoazide series and metal complexes were each optimized for liquid phase by treating influenza virus. Of the two, the metal complexes were more effective, so it was successfully applied to laboratory base experiments and also applied to field tests. In further studies, it will be of great help to rapidly measure the viability of airborne viruses in situ by linking Capsid integrity PCR with a POC device.