Viable influenza A virus in airborne particles from human coughs

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beezhold, Donald H. ; Blanchere, Francoise M. ; Clark KE ; Goldsmith WT ; Lindsley, William G. ; Martin, Stephen B. Jr. ; Noorbakhsh B ; Noti JD ; Othumpangat S ; Palmer JE ; Thewlis RE ; Vishnu A
• Description:
  Patients with influenza release aerosol particles containing the virus into their environment. However, the importance of airborne transmission in the spread of influenza is unclear, in part because of a lack of information about the infectivity of the airborne virus. The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of viable influenza A virus that was expelled by patients in aerosol particles while coughing. Sixty-four symptomatic adult volunteer outpatients were asked to cough 6 times into a cough aerosol collection system. Seventeen of these participants tested positive for influenza A virus by viral plaque assay (VPA) with confirmation by viral replication assay (VRA). Viable influenza A virus was detected in the cough aerosol particles from 7 of these 17 test subjects (41%). Viable influenza A virus was found in the smallest particle size fraction (0.3 um to 8 um), with a mean of 142 plaque-forming units (SD 215) expelled during the 6 coughs in particles of this size. These results suggest that a significant proportion of patients with influenza A release small airborne particles containing viable virus into the environment. Although the amounts of influenza A detected in cough aerosol particles during our experiments were relatively low, larger quantities could be expelled by influenza patients during a pandemic when illnesses would be more severe. Our findings support the idea that airborne infectious particles could play an important role in the spread of influenza. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Communicable Diseases Environmental Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Viral Diseases
• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Airborne-particles Airborne Transmission Air Microbiology Author Keywords: Aerosols Cough Environmental-exposure Exposure-levels Infectious-diseases Infectious Disease Transmission Influenza Particulates Viral-diseases Viral-infections

  More +
• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division ; DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  107-113
• Volume:
  12
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045523
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2015 Feb; 12(2):107-113
• Contact Point Address:
  William G. Lindsley, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1095Willowdale Road, M/S 4020, Morgantown, WV 26505-2845
• Email:
  wlindsley@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2ef2188b752de6bde67727062d7e06aa2ea2845e30431ef49efacbcfe7df25a230ebdb7cba0e47489aa40c5fb39c1832c4d1419559b3650fcee8ce88d1c0afb2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200916/cdc_200916_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 154.27 KB ]