@misc{bff1c0af-2998-41f6-b64f-0f761dbd4365,
  abstract     = {{Influenza A virus (IAV) is a major respiratory pathogen, causing around 650,000 deaths annually. Asignificant transmission pathway for IAV is via expelled respiratory aerosol. For successfultransmission via the aerosol route, IAV must remain infectious following transport from an infectedhost to a susceptible individual. Many environmental factors may affect IAV infectivity, includingambient relative humidity (RH), temperature, gas-phase composition, and UV exposure. However,there is a lack of understanding of how different environmental conditions impact IAV infectivity inthe first seconds to minutes following aerosolisation.To fill this research gap, we employed a flow tube setup in which a virus-laden aerosol was generatedfrom a liquid suspension, mixed with an RH-controlled dilution airflow, and passed through astainless steel tube. The aerosol exposure time within the flow tube was ~8 seconds, and the aerosolwas collected in 4 size fractions using a BioCascade (Aerosol Dynamics Inc.) in conjunction with aBioSpot (Aerosol Devices). The BioCascade allows aerosols with aerodynamic diameters >10 μm, 4-10 μm, and 1.5-4 μm to be sequentially sampled into liquid media via a series of impaction stages.The BioSpot collect aerosol down to 5 nm via condensational growth and impaction into liquid media.Collected samples are assessed for the presence of infectious virus using a plaque assay, a standardmethod that quantifies infectious virus by measuring visible cell damage. Viral genome copies withinthe sample were also assessed using RT-qPCR. Finally, aerosol concentration and size distributionswere measured using an Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS, Model 3321, TSI Inc.) and a ScanningMobility Particle Sizer (SMPS, TSI Inc.).Our preliminary results indicate that the bioaerosol nebulising generator (BANG) produces virus-laden aerosols with the majority of aerosol mass in the 1-4 μm aerodynamic diameter size range. Thisis also reflected in the RT-qPCR results obtained using the biocascade impactor. When averagedacross all RHs tested, the majority of viral genomes (72.14±3.31%) were detected in the 1.5-4 μmaerodynamic diameter impactor stage. This is followed by the<1.5 μm, 4-10 μm, and >10 μm stages, where 16.44±2.24%, 11.01±5.49%, and 0.41±0.02% of viralgenomes were detected, respectively. To understand the influence of each tested condition on IAVviral infectivity will be quantified using a plaque assay and normalised to the viral genome copiesmeasured for each impactor stage. This analysis will elucidate the impact of RH on IAV infectivitywithin the first seconds of aerosol generation and resolve the influence of aerosol size on viral decay.}},
  author       = {{Peek, Kennedy and Pourjam Alavijeh, Zhaleh and Liljenberg, Marcus and Sasinovich, Sviataslau and Menzel, Mandy and Medstrand, Patrik and Uller, Lena and Davidson, Andrew D. and Alsved, Malin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{95--95}},
  title        = {{Seconds after aerosolisation : the impact of relative humidity on airborne influenza virus}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/246986623/Peek_-K._et-al._NOSA-2026.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}