Establishment and clinical applications of a portable system for capturing influenza viruses released through coughing.

ABSTRACT: Coughing plays an important role in influenza transmission; however, there is insufficient information regarding the viral load in cough because of the lack of convenient and reliable collection methods. We developed a portable airborne particle-collection system to measure the viral load; it is equipped with an air sampler to draw air and pass it through a gelatin membrane filter connected to a cone-shaped, megaphone-like device to guide the cough airflow to the membrane. The membrane was dissolved in a medium, and the viral load was measured using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and a plaque assay. The approximate viral recovery rate of this system was 10% in simulation experiments to collect and quantify the viral particles aerosolized by a nebuliz

SUBMITTER: Hatagishi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4118893 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature