Capture of 0.1-μm aerosol particles containing viable H1N1 influenza virus by N95 filtering facepiece respirators

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. D46 - D49
• Main Authors: Harnish, Delbert A, Heimbuch, Brian K, Balzli, Charles, Choe, Melanie, Lumley, April E, Shaffer, Ronald E, Wander, Joseph D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 03.03.2016
• Subjects: Aerosols; Air Microbiology; Filtration - instrumentation; Humans; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza, Human - prevention & control; Inhalation Exposure - analysis; Inhalation Exposure - prevention & control; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.); Particle Size; Respiratory Protective Devices; United States; infection; Bioaerosol; respiratory; H1N1; disease transmission; N95 respirator
• ISSN: 1545-9624; 1545-9632
• DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2015.1116698

Nosocomial infections pose an escalating threat to both patients and healthcare workers (HCWs). A widely recommended device for individual respiratory protection, the N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) has been shown to provide efficient filtration of inert particles larger and smaller than the nominal most-penetrating particle size (MPPS) range, 0.03-0.3 μm. Humans generate respiratory aerosols in the MPPS range, suggesting that short-range disease transmission could occur via small infectious particles. Data presented here show that the N95 FFR will afford a significant measure of protection against infectious particles as small as a bare H1N1 influenza virion, and that the capture mechanism does not discriminate in favor of, or against, biological particles.