Influenza Virus Aerosols in Human Exhaled Breath: Particle Size, Culturability, and Effect of Surgical Masks

The CDC recommends that healthcare settings provide influenza patients with facemasks as a means of reducing transmission to staff and other patients, and a recent report suggested that surgical masks can capture influenza virus in large droplet spray. However, there is minimal data on influenza virus aerosol shedding, the infectiousness of exhaled aerosols, and none on the impact of facemasks on viral aerosol shedding from patients with seasonal influenza. We collected samples of exhaled particles (one with and one without a facemask) in two size fractions ("coarse">5 µm, "fine"≤5 µm) from 37 volunteers within 5 days of seasonal influenza onset, measured viral copy number using quantitative RT-PCR, and tested…

• AP
  Amylin Pharmaceuticals
• AU
  Auburn University
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: RC1AI086900
• CF
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  Awards: 1U01IP000497, 1U01CI000446
• FA
  Federal Aviation Administration

  Awards: 07-C-RITE-HU, 04-C-ACE-HU