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Quantification of airborne respiratory microflora provides insights into airborne infection risk

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: monitoring. METHODS: Digital polymerase chain reaction targeting a mixture of Streptococcus and Haemophilus genera common to the respiratory tract was first tested under laboratory conditions and then tested on aerosol sampled from around a hospital in Sydney, with polymerase chain reaction quantification of SARS-CoV-2 genome copies also being carried out on the samples. RESULTS: Clear signals were obtained from every location within the hospital, with a significantly higher signal being observed in more densely crowded, less well-ventilated areas. When SARS-CoV-2 was present within the aerosol samples, the respiratory microflora signal correlated with the number of SARS-CoV-2 copies. CONCLUSIONS: Airborne respiratory microflora can be used as a marker for airborne infection risk. Using the value in conjunction with pathogen sampling provides in-depth insights into the relative infection risk of a space, and a clear marker which can be used to compare between different pathogen sampling studies.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2026.108403
Authors: Henry P. Oswin, Raymond Tellier, Robert Groth, Ville Silvonen, Rowena Bull, C. Raina MacIntyre, Charitha de Silva, Con Doolan, Mohamed M.A. Mahmoud, Damian Honeyman, Ian Seppelt, Marck Nicholls, Stuart Turville, Anupriya Aggarwal, K.M. Ahsanul Kabir, Adriana Notaras, Donald Milton, Lidia Morawska
Institutions: Queensland University of Technology, McGill University, Tampere University, UNSW Sydney, The University of Sydney, University of Maryland, College Park
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
Funders: Queensland University of Technology, Business Finland, Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, Medical Research Future Fund
OpenAlex ID: W7124827411
FWCI: 4.463
Cites: 9
Cited by: 1
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