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Assessing the airborne stability of influenza A virus

Peek, Kennedy ; Alsved, Malin LU orcid ; Haddrell, Allen ; Klein, Katja ; Reid, Jonathan P. ; Davidson, Andrew D. and Mann, Jamie F.S. (2024) Aerosols and Microbiology
Abstract
Respiratory viruses such as Influenza A virus (IAV) pose a significant burden on UK healthcare, especially in winter months. The drivers of the seasonal increase in IAV infection rates include environmental conditions, viral genetic variation, host immunity and human behaviour. This project aims to investigate the impact of environmental conditions on IAV airborne stability, thus improving our understanding of how different environmental conditions could drive IAV seasonality.

We employ the novel Controlled Electrodynamic Levitation and Extraction of Bioaerosol onto Substrate (CELEBS) technique to assess how environmental conditions such as relative humidity (RH), temperature, and ambient CO2 concentration impact IAV viability.... (More)
Respiratory viruses such as Influenza A virus (IAV) pose a significant burden on UK healthcare, especially in winter months. The drivers of the seasonal increase in IAV infection rates include environmental conditions, viral genetic variation, host immunity and human behaviour. This project aims to investigate the impact of environmental conditions on IAV airborne stability, thus improving our understanding of how different environmental conditions could drive IAV seasonality.

We employ the novel Controlled Electrodynamic Levitation and Extraction of Bioaerosol onto Substrate (CELEBS) technique to assess how environmental conditions such as relative humidity (RH), temperature, and ambient CO2 concentration impact IAV viability. This method, coupled with comparative kinetics electrodynamic balance measurements, enables inference of the microphysical processes that drive virus inactivation within aerosol droplets. We have previously reported that SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly inactivated at 40% RH due to water evaporation and subsequent spontaneous salt crystallisation. However, slow viral decay is observed at 90% RH and is thought to be due to a rapid flux of CO2 (originally in the form of HCO3-) from the droplet, causing the droplet to become alkaline.


This project aims to compare the aerostability of IAV with that of SARS-CoV-2. Similar to SARS-CoV-2, our preliminary results indicate that IAV is rapidly inactivated at 40% RH and presents a slower inactivation rate at 90% RH. Interestingly, IAV demonstrates a quicker initial viral decay rate at 90% RH compared to SARS-CoV-2, suggesting IAV may be less aerostable than SARS-CoV-2. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
conference name
Aerosols and Microbiology
conference location
Bristol, United Kingdom
conference dates
2024-06-04 - 2024-06-06
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ae9e8e7b-ca59-42c8-8c63-fd9f4edf46f9
date added to LUP
2024-10-29 14:33:40
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:00:48
@misc{ae9e8e7b-ca59-42c8-8c63-fd9f4edf46f9,
  abstract     = {{Respiratory viruses such as Influenza A virus (IAV) pose a significant burden on UK healthcare, especially in winter months. The drivers of the seasonal increase in IAV infection rates include environmental conditions, viral genetic variation, host immunity and human behaviour. This project aims to investigate the impact of environmental conditions on IAV airborne stability, thus improving our understanding of how different environmental conditions could drive IAV seasonality. <br/><br/>We employ the novel Controlled Electrodynamic Levitation and Extraction of Bioaerosol onto  Substrate (CELEBS) technique to assess how environmental conditions such as relative humidity (RH), temperature, and ambient CO2 concentration impact IAV viability. This method, coupled with comparative kinetics electrodynamic balance measurements, enables inference of the microphysical processes that drive virus inactivation within aerosol droplets. We have previously reported that SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly inactivated at 40% RH due to water evaporation and subsequent spontaneous salt crystallisation. However, slow viral decay is observed at 90% RH and is thought to be due to a rapid flux of CO2 (originally in the form of HCO3-) from the droplet, causing the droplet to become alkaline.<br/><br/><br/>This project aims to compare the aerostability of IAV with that of SARS-CoV-2. Similar to SARS-CoV-2, our preliminary results indicate that IAV is rapidly inactivated at 40% RH and presents a slower inactivation rate at 90% RH. Interestingly, IAV demonstrates a quicker initial viral decay rate at 90% RH compared to SARS-CoV-2, suggesting IAV may be less aerostable than SARS-CoV-2.}},
  author       = {{Peek, Kennedy and Alsved, Malin and Haddrell, Allen and Klein, Katja and Reid, Jonathan P. and Davidson, Andrew D. and Mann, Jamie F.S.}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  title        = {{Assessing the airborne stability of influenza A virus}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}