Direct and quantitative capture of viable bacteriophages from experimentally contaminated indoor air: A model for the study of airborne vertebrate viruses including SARS-CoV-2.

Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9706280 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1365-2672 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 13645072 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Appl Microbiol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2022- : Oxford : Oxford University Press
Original Publication: Oxford : Published for the Society for Applied Bacteriology by Blackwell Science, c1997-

Air Pollution, Indoor*/analysis ; Bacteriophages* ; COVID-19* ; Viruses*; Air Microbiology ; Animals ; Humans ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Vertebrates

Aim: The air indoors has profound health implications as it can expose us to pathogens, allergens and particulates either directly or via contaminated surfaces. There is, therefore, an upsurge in marketing of air decontamination technologies, but with no proper validation of their claims. We addressed the gap through the construction and use of a versatile room-sized (25 m ³ ) chamber to study airborne pathogen survival and inactivation.
Methods and Results: Here, we report on the quantitative recovery and detection of an enveloped (Phi6) and a non-enveloped bacteriophage (MS2). The two phages, respectively, acted as surrogates for airborne human pathogenic enveloped (e.g., influenza, Ebola and coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) and non-enveloped (e.g., norovirus) viruses from indoor air deposited directly on the lawns of their respective host bacteria using a programmable slit-to-agar air sampler. Using this technique, two different devices based on HEPA filtration and UV light were tested for their ability to decontaminate indoor air. This safe, relatively simple and inexpensive procedure augments the use of phages as surrogates for the study of airborne human and animal pathogenic viruses.
Conclusions: This simple, safe and relatively inexpensive method of direct recovery and quantitative detection of viable airborne phage particles can greatly enhance their applicattion as surrogates for the study of vertebrate virus survival in indoor air and assessment of technologies for their decontamination.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The safe, economical and simple technique reported here can be applied widely to investigate the role of indoor air for virus survival and transmission and also to assess the potential of air decontaminating technologies.
(© 2021 The Society for Applied Microbiology.)

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Keywords: aerobiology; aerosolization; air decontamination; airborne viruses; bacteriophages; coliphage MS2; indoor air; phage Phi6

Date Created: 20210819 Date Completed: 20220121 Latest Revision: 20221005

20221213

PMC8447128

10.1111/jam.15262

34411388