Passive Air Sampler Clip Determines Exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Novel passive air sampler clip can help assess personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which could be helpful for workers in high-risk settings, like restaurants or health care facilities, as per the report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

COVID-19 is transmitted through the inhalation of virus-laden aerosols, and respiratory droplets that infected individuals expel by coughing, sneezing, speaking, or breathing.

‘New wearable passive air sampler, called Fresh Air Clip, adsorbs virus-laden aerosols on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface.’
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Researchers have used active air sampling devices to detect airborne SARS-CoV-2 in indoor settings; however, these monitors are typically large, expensive, non-portable, and require electricity.

Krystal Pollitt and colleagues wanted to develop a small, lightweight, inexpensive, and wearable device that doesn’t require a power source to better understand personal exposures to the virus.

The researchers developed a wearable passive air sampler, the Fresh Air Clip, that continually adsorbs virus-laden aerosols on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface.

The team tested the air sampler in a rotating drum in which they generated aerosols containing a surrogate virus, a bacteriophage with similar properties to SARS-CoV-2.

They detected a virus on the PDMS sampler using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), showing that the device could be used to reliably estimate airborne virus concentrations.

Coronavirus
Coronaviruses infect animals, humans, and birds. Human coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and 2019-nCoV cause respiratory distress and even death. The S protein is the infectious agent of the virus.

Then, the researchers distributed Fresh Air Clips to 62 volunteers who wore the monitors for five days. PCR analysis of the clips detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five of the clips: four were worn by restaurant servers and one by homeless shelter staff.

Scientists detected the highest viral loads in two badges from restaurant servers.

Although the Fresh Air Clip has not yet been commercialized, these results indicate that it could serve as a semiquantitative screening tool for assessing personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and help identify high-risk areas for indoor exposure the researchers say.

Source-Medindia