EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF A NEW AIR PURIFIER ON REDUCING AIRBORNE INFLUENZA VIRUS

Abstract

Intro: Influenza is a global respiratory infectious disease that is highly susceptible to form large epidemics. Infectious diseases such as influenza expose the seriousness of hospital associated infection (HAI). Currently, many air cleaners are applied in medical institutions, but their effectiveness on the purification of influenza viruses is not clear. In our previous work, nonequilibrium positive and negative oxygen ion purifiers (PNOI) showed good clean up effects on bacteria. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PNOI for air purification in a ward contaminated with influenza virus. Methods: The influenza virus (H1N1-pr8) was uniformly sprayed in a simulated, closed room, where first round samples were taken at seven sampling sites after environmental stabilization. After that, PNOI was turned on, and samples were collected once each at 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min on. Cleaner sampling was not turned on as a control. RNA was extracted from a subset of samples and viral copy number was determined using a real-time PCR machine. Take a further 100μl positive samples are post filter infected with MDCK cells and one day after culture observe cytopathic changes using an inverted microscope. Findings: After running PNOI for 30 min, the influenza virus purification rate reached 100%, which was significantly better than the control (58.33%). It was highly effective (P<0.05) at decontaminating influenza viruses from different locations inside the room. Influenza virus was inactivated in 42.5% (17/40) of positive samples. In addition, it performed better than ultraviolet disinfection for airborne influenza virus decontamination (P<0.05). Collectively, these results demonstrate that PNOI effectively reduces airborne influenza virus. Conclusion: This work demonstrates the robust decontamination capability of PNOI for influenza virus contaminated ward environments, providing new ideas for infection control in healthcare settings.