Role of bioaerosol in virus transmission and material-based countermeasures

Respiratory pathogens transmit primarily through particles such as droplets and aerosols. Although often overlooked, the resuspension of settled droplets is also a key facilitator of disease transmission. In this review, we discuss the three main mechanisms of aerosol generation: direct generation such as coughing and sneezing, indirect generation such as medical procedures, and resuspension of settled droplets and aerosols. The size of particles and environmental factors influence their airborne lifetime and ability to cause infection. Specifically, humidity and temperature are key factors controlling the evaporation of suspended droplets, consequently affecting the duration in which particles remain airborne. We also suggest material-based approaches for effective prevention of disease transmission. These approaches include electrostatically charged virucidal agents and surface coatings, which have been shown to be highly effective in deactivating and reducing resuspension of pathogen-laden aerosols.

Effects of low extracellular Ca2+ on cytosolic free Ca2+, Na+, and pH of MDCK cells

The effects of lowering the Ca2+ electrochemical potential (delta mu Ca2+) by removing extracellular calcium (Ca2+o) was studied in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. We measured cytosolic free calcium (Ca2+i), intracellular Na+ (Na+i), and intracellular pH (pHi) as well as Ca2+ and Na+ influx and efflux and H+ secretion. As soon as Ca2+o was lowered to zero, Ca2+ efflux increased 2-fold, and Na+ influx increased 4.3-fold. As a result, Ca2+i fell 71% from 120 to 34.7 nM, and Na+i rose 56% from 16.7 to 26.1 mM. At the same time, H+ secretion was depressed 38%, and pHi fell from 7.32 to 7.22. When Ca2+o was restored to normal (1.3 mM), there was a sharp rise in Ca2+i from 34.7 to 243 nM (+600%) caused by an immediate increase in Ca2+ influx (+112%). At the same time, Na+ efflux increased 20%. Ten to fifteen minutes after restoring Ca2+o to 1.3 mM, Ca2+i, Na+i, and pHi were back to control levels. These results suggest that reducing delta mu Ca2+ activates the forward mode of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange which leads to a fall in Ca2+i and a decreased delta mu Na+ by increasing Na+i. The fall in delta mu Na+ secondarily depresses Na(+)-H+ exchange which results in a reduced H+ secretion and a fall in pHi. When Ca2+o is restored to 1.3 mM, the reverse mode of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange is activated, since delta mu Ca2+ is larger than normal because of the low Ca2+i, and delta mu Na+ is reduced because of the high Na+i.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)