Detection of airborne respiratory viruses in pediatric patient rooms in Guangzhou, China

BackgroundDespite the controversy of aerosol transmission for different respiratory viruses, there are few direct comparisons. Respiratory virus detection in the air can inform transmission risk assessment in healthcare settings. We aimed to identify five common respiratory viruses in the air in pediatric patient rooms. MethodsWe sampled air with two-stage cyclone samplers continuously for 4 hours in 5-bed pediatric patient rooms in a tertiary hospital in China. Respiratory virus RNA/DNA recovered in the air were quantified by PCR. ResultsWe conducted air sampling on 44 occasions from December 2017 through January 2020, and identified 24, 18, 16, 4 and 8 occasions which had [≥]1 patient in the room tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus (AdV), parainfluenza virus (PIV), influenza B or A virus, respectively. Detection of influenza A viral gene copies was most frequent even when there were no known infected patients in the room (72%). Influenza B, AdV and RSV were detected in low to moderate frequencies, whether there were infected patients in close proximity (13-50%) or not (12-25%). PIV was rarely detected even when air samplers were placed in close proximity to infected patients (8%). About 103-105 copies/m3 were detected for all detected respiratory viruses. ConclusionsHealthcare workers and visitors likely have substantial exposure to various respiratory viruses including influenza A/B viruses, RSV and AdV in pediatric patient rooms, even in the absence of infected individuals in close proximity, suggesting the potential value of improving indoor ventilation or air disinfection in hospitals.