Monitoring for airborne respiratory viruses in a general pediatric ward in Singapore

Yadana, Su; Coleman, Kristen Kelli; Nguyen, Tham Thi; Hansen-Estruch, Christophe; Kalimuddin, Shirin; Thoon, Koh Cheng; Low, Jenny Guek Hong; Gray, Gregory Charles

In summary, we conducted a 7-week pilot study to monitor for aerosolized respiratory viruses among inpatients in a pediatric ward in Singapore. We found molecular evidence of influenza A virus and adenovirus, demonstrating the potential for airborne transmission. To comprehend this potential risk of transmission, our proof-of-concept project might be expanded in the future to specifically study patients with known positive clinical infections (e.g. through nasopharyngeal swabs) and determine how far away viable viruses can be detected from a patient's bedside. Additionally, future studies might involve more comprehensive demographic and clinical risk factor analyses to help us better understand phenomenon such as super-spreading. Lastly, bioaerosol surveillance might be useful in monitoring clinical populations for incursions of novel respiratory viruses, especially since aerosol sampling in shared clinical spaces often requires no informed consent.