Impact of Organic Compounds on the Stability of Influenza A Virus in Deposited 1-μL Droplets

Overview

Journal mSphere

Publisher American Society for Microbiology

Specialties Microbiology
Parasitology

Date 2024 Aug 22

PMID 39171937

Authors

Aline Schaub

Shannon C David

Irina Glas

Liviana K Klein

Kalliopi Violaki

Celine Terrettaz

Ghislain Motos

Nir Bluvshtein

Beiping Luo

Marie Pohl

Walter Hugentobler

Athanasios Nenes

Ulrich K Krieger

Thomas Peter

Silke Stertz

Tamar Kohn

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Importance: This study investigates how the composition of respiratory fluids affects the stability of viruses in exhaled droplets. Understanding virus stability in droplets is important as it impacts how viruses spread and how we can combat them. We focus on influenza A virus (IAV) and investigate how different organic compounds found in lung fluid and nasal mucus protect the virus from inactivation. We demonstrate that the ratio of organics to salt in the fluid is an indicator of IAV stability. Among organics, small proteins are particularly effective at protecting IAV. Their effect is in part explained by the proteins' influence on the crystallization of salts in the droplets, thereby shielding the viruses from prolonged exposure to harmful salt concentrations. Understanding these mechanisms helps us grasp how viruses sustain their infectivity over time in respiratory droplets, contributing to efforts in controlling infectious diseases.

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