Influenza Virus Infectivity Is Retained in Aerosols and Droplets Independent of Relative Humidity.

ABSTRACT: Pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses can be transmitted through aerosols and droplets, in which viruses must remain stable and infectious across a wide range of environmental conditions. Using humidity-controlled chambers, we studied the impact of relative humidity on the stability of 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus in suspended aerosols and stationary droplets. Contrary to the prevailing paradigm that humidity modulates the stability of respiratory viruses in aerosols, we found that viruses supplemented with material from the apical surface of differentiated primary human airway epithelial cells remained equally infectious for 1 hour at all relative humidities tested. This sustained infectivity was observed in both fine aerosols and stationary droplets. Our data suggest, for the

SUBMITTER: Kormuth KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6057527 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature