Airborne pathogens affect both humans and animals and are often highly and rapidly transmittable. Many problematic airborne pathogens, both viral (influenza A/H1N1, Rubella, and avian influenza/H5N1) and bacterial (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Bacillus anthracis), have huge impacts on health care and agricultural applications, and can potentially be used as bioterrorism agents. Many different laboratory-based methods have been introduced and are currently being used. However, such detection is generally limited by sample collection, including nasal swabs and blood analysis. Direct identification from air (specifically, aerosol samples) would be ideal, but such detection has not been very successful due to the difficulty in sample collection and the extremely low pathogen concentration found in aerosol samples. In this review, we will discuss the portable biosensors and/or micro total analysis systems (µTAS) that can be used for monitoring such airborne pathogens, similar to smoke detectors. Current laboratory-based methods will be reviewed, and possible solutions to convert these lab-based methods into µTAS biosensors will be discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2211068215580935 | DOI Listing |
Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol
January 2025
Meat Microbiology, ICAR-National Meat Research Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
is an airborne bacterial zoonotic pathogen that causes Q fever/coxiellosis in humans and animals. Although dogs are suspected of transmitting Q fever to humans in past outbreaks, the prevalence of in the Indian dog population and risk factors for infection remain unknown. In this study, 452 dogs from pet clinics in three Indian states were screened for coxiellosis using molecular (Trans-PCR, Com 1-PCR) and serological (IFAT) tests.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOpen Forum Infect Dis
January 2025
Global Tuberculosis Program, William T. Shearer Center for Immunobiology, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Background: The BCG vaccine induces trained immunity, an epigenetic-mediated increase in innate immune responsiveness. Therefore, this clinical trial evaluated if BCG-induced trained immunity could decrease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related frequency or severity.
Methods: A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of healthcare workers randomized participants to vaccination with BCG TICE or placebo (saline).
Environ Pollut
January 2025
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Airborne microorganisms in hospitals present significant health risks to both patients and employees. However, their pollution profiles and associated hazards in different hospital areas remained largely unknown during the extensive use of masks and disinfectants. This study investigated the characteristics of bioaerosols in an urban general hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that airborne bacteria and fungi concentrations range from 87 ± 35 to 1037 ± 275 CFU/m and 21 ± 15 to 561 ± 132 CFU/m, respectively, with the outpatient clinic and internal medicine ward showing the highest levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWaste Manag
January 2025
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste, School of Ecological and Environmental Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Precision Optics, Chongqing Institute of East China Normal University, Chongqing 401120, PR China. Electronic address:
Household waste is a hotspot of antibiotic resistance, which can be readily emitted to the ambient airborne inhalable particulate matters (PM) during the day-long storage in communities. Nevertheless, whether these waste-specific inhalable antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are associated with pathogenic bacteria or pose hazards to local residents have yet to be explored. By high-throughput metagenomic sequencing and culture-based antibiotic resistance validation, we analyzed 108 airborne PM and nearby environmental samples collected across different types of residential communities in Shanghai, the most populous city in China.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Oxygen controls most metazoan metabolism, yet in mammals, tissue O levels vary widely. While extensive research has explored cellular responses to hypoxia, understanding how cells respond to physiologically high O levels remains uncertain. To address this problem, we investigated respiratory epithelia as their contact with air exposes them to some of the highest O levels in the body.
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