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Topic: Flu virus is protected by mucusPosted By: Technophobe
Subject: Flu virus is protected by mucus
Date Posted: June 07 2018 at 3:33am
Public Release:
Flu virus is protected by mucus when airborne, regardless of humidity
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
PITTSBURGH, June 7, 2018 - Mucus and other airway secretions that are
expelled when a person with the flu coughs or exhales appear to protect
the virus when it becomes airborne, regardless of humidity levels, a
creative experiment conducted by the University of Pittsburgh and
Virginia Tech discovered.
The results, published in today's issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, refute long-standing studies that indicated the influenza virus degrades and is inactivated sooner as the humidity increases.
"Our findings highlight the importance of mimicking real-world
conditions when determining the infectivity of emerging viruses," said
Seema S. Lakdawala, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Pitt School of
Medicine's Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. "This
has critical implications when public health organizations devise ways
to stem the spread of infections, particularly during pandemics."
Influenza viruses emerge every winter in temperate regions when
people are in closer contact inside, better enabling person-to-person
spread. But it is also much less humid inside buildings that are heated
in winter, and previous experiments using aerosolized flu virus alone -
not in combination with airway secretions - showed that moderate to high
humidity inactivated the virus. So it was assumed that dry winter air
had a protective effect that also allowed the flu virus to thrive.
Lakdawala partnered with Linsey C. Marr, Ph.D., of Virginia Tech's
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, to put that
assumption to the test. They devised a way to artificially create
real-world conditions to test how long the influenza virus, when
expelled by someone with the flu, would be expected to survive in a
typical indoor setting under a variety of different relative humidity
levels.
Marr's research team, including Virginia Tech graduate student
Kaisen Lin, M.S., designed a rotating metal drum that keeps aerosols
suspended while maintaining a constant relative humidity level.
Lakdawala's team combined samples of human airway secretions with the
2009 pandemic H1N1 flu strain, aerosolized the mixture and sprayed it
into the drum - similar to what would be expected to be emitted into a
room from someone who is sick. The drum was fitted with special filters
to prevent the release of the virus, and the entire experiment was run
inside a biosafety cabinet.
The team ran the drum for an hour - a typical length of time that
air stays in homes and other buildings before moving outside - at seven
different humidity levels, representative of dry climates and heated
indoor environments in winter, indoor environments during warmer
seasons, and rainy and tropical climates.
Karen Kormuth, Ph.D., a post-doctoral associate in Lakdawala's
laboratory, analyzed the results from the drum experiment and showed
them to Lakdawala.
"I was astonished," said Lakdawala. "The flu virus remained just as
infectious at all humidity levels. The airway secretions were protecting
it for at least the length of time it would take a typical home to
exchange most of its air."
"The result was surprising," Marr added, "because our previous work
suggested that the flu virus survived better at low humidity. We thought
this might help explain why flu season occurs in the winter, when
humidity is low indoors, but we now have to rethink what's happening
with the virus when it's in droplets and aerosols."
The team stresses that the immediate take-away from their study is
that, during flu season, homes and offices should employ a combination
of increased air exchange rates coupled with filtration or UV
irradiation of recirculated air, as well as regular disinfection of
high-touch surfaces, such as door knobs, keyboards, phones and desks.
Future research should involve testing other strains of flu and
different pathogens to learn if they, too, are protected by airway
secretions when airborne.
Virginia Tech was a collaborating institution.
###
Additional authors on this study are Aaron J. Prussin II, Ph.D.,
Andrea J. Tiwari, Ph.D., and Steve S. Cox, Ph.D., all of Virginia Tech;
Eric P. Vejerano, Ph.D., of the University of South Carolina; and
Michael M. Myerburg, M.D., of Pitt.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) award
1-DP2-A1112243, and grants AI108600-01 and AI049820; as well as NIH and
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Research Development Program grant
P30DK072506.
About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical
research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates
advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of
disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge
and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine
and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of
funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings
recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth
among all American universities in total federal science and engineering
research and development support.
Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing
the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs,
for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training
highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists
well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine
is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the
University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and
to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy.
For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu" rel="nofollow - http://www.medschool.pitt.edu .