Work

An optimized method to detect influenza virus and human rhinovirus from exhaled breath and the airborne environment

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: Respiratory viruses are difficult to characterize in the airborne environment due to their low concentration and the presence of a wide range of inhibitors. As a first step in studying airborne viruses, we optimized molecular biology methods to quantify influenza viruses and human rhinovirus. Quantitative PCR was used as an endpoint to evaluate RNA extraction techniques and reverse transcription protocols. We found that a Trizol-chloroform extraction and MultiScribe RT increased virus detection 10-fold compared to methods used in published field studies of airborne respiratory viruses. Virus was recovered without inhibition from samples contaminated with up to 50 microg/sample of particulate matter. The methods developed can be used in studies of airborne respiratory viruses.

Source: Journal of Environmental Monitoring

DOI: 10.1039/b813520g

Authors: Patricia Fabian, James Joseph McDevitt, Wai-Ming Lee, Eugene Andres Houseman, Donald Kirby Milton

Institutions: University of Massachusetts Lowell, Harvard University, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Language: English

Topic: Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure

Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Public Health Service, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases