Efficient collection of viable virus aerosol through laminar‐flow, water‐based condensational particle growth

Abstract

This study reveals that the GTC is an effective collector of viable MS2 aerosols, and concludes the instrument will be an effective tool for studying viable virus aerosols and the inhalation risks posed by airborne viruses.

Drifted Influenza A and B Viruses Collected by a Water-Based Condensation Growth Air Sampler in a Student Health Care Center during an Influenza Outbreak

“…Infection risk analyses lack accuracy when they are based on virus detection alone, as breathing air always contains viruses that have been inactivated through exposure to ultraviolet light, drying, or other means, and thus pose no inhalation hazards. We have been evaluating and refining the viable virus aerosol sampler (VIVAS), a novel air sampler that operates on a water vapor condensation process to enlarge aerosolized virus particles to facilitate their capture (3, 4), and we tested it thrice a day on three different days during an influenza outbreak. Air samplings were performed in March and April 2016 at the Student Health Care Center (SHC) of the University of Florida; the study was exempt from institutional review board (IRB) approval and was approved by the SHC’s director.…”

Use of RNA amplification and electrophoresis for studying virus aerosol collection efficiency and their comparison with plaque assays

“…Once generated, spreading of aerosols is governed by physical processes. Larger particles settle to the ground due to gravity, while smaller aerosols remain suspended in air and once dried become far‐spreading pathogen‐laden nuclei . In addition to their long residence in air, aerosols at the lower end of the size distribution have an ability to penetrate deeper into the lung, and this may increase both infection risk and disease severity .…”

“…To study the transmission of airborne viruses, an effective aerosol collection system is of the essence considering the small size and low concentration of the virus aerosols in the air. However, traditional and commercial aerosol collection systems, such as AGI‐30 impinger, SKC® BioSamplers, frit bubblers, compact cascade impactors and gelatin filters, have relatively good collection efficiencies for micron‐sized bacteria, but have very low collection efficiency for nanometer‐sized viruses .…”

Highly efficient collection of infectious pandemic influenza H1N1 virus (2009) through laminar-flow water based condensation

“…A recent study by our group (Pan et al 2016) introduced the "viable virus aerosol sampler" (VIVAS) as an efficient collector for laboratory-generated, 30 nm-diameter bacteriophage MS2. The VIVAS is a laminar-flow, water-based condensational growth system , and its operation mimics the dynamics of particle deposition in human lungs on a cold day: particles in a cooled flow enter a warm, wet-walled "growth" chamber, and the resulting supersaturation initiates condensational growth, forming supermicrometer particles that are collected gently into liquid.…”