Last data update: Sep 16, 2024. (Total: 47680 publications since 2009)
Records 1-3 (of 3 Records) |
Query Trace: Noorbakhsh B [original query] |
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Healthcare personnel exposure in an emergency department during influenza season
Rule AM , Apau O , Ahrenholz SH , Brueck SE , Lindsley WG , de Perio MA , Noti JD , Shaffer RE , Rothman R , Grigorovitch A , Noorbakhsh B , Beezhold DH , Yorio PL , Perl TM , Fisher EM . PLoS One 2018 13 (8) e0203223 INTRODUCTION: Healthcare personnel are at high risk for exposure to influenza by direct and indirect contact, droplets and aerosols, and by aerosol generating procedures. Information on air and surface influenza contamination is needed to assist in developing guidance for proper prevention and control strategies. To understand the vulnerabilities of healthcare personnel, we measured influenza in the breathing zone of healthcare personnel, in air and on surfaces within a healthcare setting, and on filtering facepiece respirators worn by healthcare personnel when conducting patient care. METHODS: Thirty participants were recruited from an adult emergency department during the 2015 influenza season. Participants wore personal bioaerosol samplers for six hours of their work shift, submitted used filtering facepiece respirators and medical masks and completed questionnaires to assess frequency and types of interactions with potentially infected patients. Room air samples were collected using bioaerosol samplers, and surface swabs were collected from high-contact surfaces within the adult emergency department. Personal and room bioaerosol samples, surface swabs, and filtering facepiece respirators were analyzed for influenza A by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Influenza was identified in 42% (53/125) of personal bioaerosol samples, 43% (28/ 96) of room bioaerosol samples, 76% (23/30) of pooled surface samples, and 25% (3/12) of the filtering facepiece respirators analyzed. Influenza copy numbers were greater in personal bioaerosol samples (17 to 631 copies) compared to room bioaerosol samples (16 to 323 copies). Regression analysis suggested that the amount of influenza in personal samples was approximately 2.3 times the amount in room samples (Wald chi2 = 16.21, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare personnel may encounter increased concentrations of influenza virus when in close proximity to patients. Occupations that require contact with patients are at an increased risk for influenza exposure, which may occur throughout the influenza season. Filtering facepiece respirators may become contaminated with influenza when used during patient care. |
Viable influenza A virus in airborne particles expelled during coughs vs. exhalations
Lindsley WG , Blachere FM , Beezhold DH , Thewlis RE , Noorbakhsh B , Othumpangat S , Goldsmith WT , McMillen CM , Andrew ME , Burrell CN , Noti JD . Influenza Other Respir Viruses 2016 10 (5) 404-13 BACKGROUND: In order to prepare for a possible influenza pandemic, a better understanding of the potential for airborne transmission of influenza from person to person is needed. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to directly compare the generation of aerosol particles containing viable influenza virus during coughs and exhalations. METHODS: Sixty-one adult volunteer outpatients with influenza-like symptoms were asked to cough and exhale three times into a spirometer. Aerosol particles produced during coughing and exhalation were collected into liquid media using aerosol samplers. The samples were tested for the presence of viable influenza virus using a viral replication assay (VRA). RESULTS: Fifty-three test subjects tested positive for influenza A virus. Of these, 28 (53%) produced aerosol particles containing viable influenza A virus during coughing, and 22 (42%) produced aerosols with viable virus during exhalation. Thirteen subjects had both cough aerosol and exhalation aerosol samples that contained viable virus, 15 had positive cough aerosol samples but negative exhalation samples, and 9 had positive exhalation samples but negative cough samples. CONCLUSIONS: Viable influenza A virus was detected more often in cough aerosol particles than in exhalation aerosol particles, but the difference was not large. Since individuals breathe much more often than they cough, these results suggest that breathing may generate more airborne infectious material than coughing over time. However, both respiratory activities could be important in airborne influenza transmission. Our results are also consistent with the theory that much of the aerosol containing viable influenza originates deep in the lungs. |
Viable influenza a virus in airborne particles from human coughs
Lindsley WG , Noti JD , Blachere FM , Thewlis RE , Martin SB , Othumpangat S , Noorbakhsh B , Goldsmith WT , Vishnu A , Palmer JE , Clark KE , Beezhold DH . J Occup Environ Hyg 2015 12 (2) 107-13 Patients with influenza release aerosol particles containing the virus into their environment. However, the importance of airborne transmission in the spread of influenza is unclear, in part because of a lack of information about the infectivity of the airborne virus. The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of viable influenza A virus that was expelled by patients in aerosol particles while coughing. Sixty-four symptomatic adult volunteer outpatients were asked to cough 6 times into a cough aerosol collection system. Seventeen of these participants tested positive for influenza A virus by viral plaque assay (VPA) with confirmation by viral replication assay (VRA). Viable influenza A virus was detected in the cough aerosol particles from 7 of these 17 test subjects (41%). Viable influenza A virus was found in the smallest particle size fraction (0.3 mum to 8 mum), with a mean of 142 plaque-forming units (SD 215) expelled during the 6 coughs in particles of this size. These results suggest that a significant proportion of patients with influenza A release small airborne particles containing viable virus into the environment. Although the amounts of influenza A detected in cough aerosol particles during our experiments were relatively low, larger quantities could be expelled by influenza patients during a pandemic when illnesses would be more severe. Our findings support the idea that airborne infectious particles could play an important role in the spread of influenza. |
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