Ozone inactivation of airborne influenza and lack of resistance of respiratory syncytial virus to aerosolization and sampling processes

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 7; p. e0253022
• Main Authors: Dubuis, Marie-Eve, Racine, Étienne, Vyskocil, Jonathan M, Turgeon, Nathalie, Tremblay, Christophe, Mukawera, Espérance, Boivin, Guy, Grandvaux, Nathalie, Duchaine, Caroline
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 12.07.2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aerosol composition; Aerosol concentrations; Aerosols; Air pollution; Air sampling; Analysis; Biology and life sciences; Disease resistance; Disinfectants; Experiments; Exposure; Genomes; Health aspects; Hospitals; Inactivation; Infectivity; Influenza; Influenza A; Influenza viruses; Intensive care; Long-term care; Medicine and health sciences; Mucus; Nosocomial infection; Nursing homes; Outbreaks; Ozone; Ozone concentration; Pediatrics; Performance evaluation; Physical Sciences; Relative humidity; Respiratory syncytial virus; Risk factors; Sampling; Sensitivity analysis; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sucrose; Supervision; Surfactants; Virulence (Microbiology); Viruses; Canada; Montreal Quebec Canada; Grand Island New York; United States > US; Quebec City Quebec Canada; Quebec Canada
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253022

Influenza and RSV are human viruses responsible for outbreaks in hospitals, long-term care facilities and nursing homes. The present study assessed an air treatment using ozone at two relative humidity conditions (RHs) in order to reduce the infectivity of airborne influenza. Bovine pulmonary surfactant (BPS) and synthetic tracheal mucus (STM) were used as aerosols protectants to better reflect the human aerosol composition. Residual ozone concentration inside the aerosol chamber was also measured. RSV’s sensitivity resulted in testing its resistance to aerosolization and sampling processes instead of ozone exposure. The results showed that without supplement and with STM, a reduction in influenza A infectivity of four orders of magnitude was obtained with an exposure to 1.70 ± 0.19 ppm of ozone at 76% RH for 80 min. Consequently, ozone could be considered as a virucidal disinfectant for airborne influenza A. RSV did not withstand the aerosolization and sampling processes required for the use of the experimental setup. Therefore, ozone exposure could not be performed for this virus. Nonetheless, this study provides great insight for the efficacy of ozone as an air treatment for the control of nosocomial influenza A outbreaks.