Projects per year
Abstract
The mechanistic factors hypothesized to be key drivers for the loss of infectivity of viruses in the aerosol phase often remain speculative. Using a next-generation bioaerosol technology, we report measurements of the aero-stability of several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in aerosol droplets of well-defined size and composition at high (90%) and low (40%) relative humidity (RH) upwards of 40 min. When compared with the ancestral virus, the infectivity of the Delta variant displayed different decay profiles. At low RH, a loss of viral infectivity of approximately 55% was observed over the initial 5 s for both variants. Regardless of RH and variant, greater than 95% of the viral infectivity was lost after 40 min of being aerosolized. Aero-stability of the variants correlate with their sensitivities to alkaline pH. Removal of all acidic vapours dramatically increased the rate of infectivity decay, with 90% loss after 2 min, while the addition of nitric acid vapour improved aero-stability. Similar aero-stability in droplets of artificial saliva and growth medium was observed. A model to predict loss of viral infectivity is proposed: at high RH, the high pH of exhaled aerosol drives viral infectivity loss; at low RH, high salt content limits the loss of viral infectivity.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 20230062 |
Journal | Journal of the Royal Society Interface |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 203 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 21 Jun 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was funded by the National Institute for Health Research-UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) rapid COVID-19 call, the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, the University of Bristol and the Medical Research Council. Additionally, this work was supported by funding from the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment, managed by the Health and Safety Executive on behalf of Her Majesty's Government. A.H. and M.O.-F. received funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Projects BB/T011688/1 and BB/W00884X/1. A.D.D. is a member of the G2P-UK National Virology consortium funded by the Medical Research Council/UKRI (grant no. MR/W005611/1) that supplied SARS-CoV-2 variants. H.O. is supported by funding from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Acknowledgements
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors.
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Dive into the research topics of 'Differences in airborne stability of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern is impacted by alkalinity of surrogates of respiratory aerosol'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Active
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Exploring the Factors that Determine the Survival of Viruses in Aerosols and Droplets
Reid, J. P. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/22 → 31/03/25
Project: Research
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EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science
Reid, J. P. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/19 → 30/09/27
Project: Research
Student theses
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The investigation of the dynamics of exhaled respiratory aerosols
Tian, J.-H. (Author), Reid, J. (Supervisor), 1 Oct 2024Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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