Increased survivability of coronavirus and H1N1 influenza virus under electrostatic aerosol-to-hydrosol sampling

Airborne virus susceptibility is an underlying cause of severe respiratory diseases, raising pandemic alerts worldwide. Following the first reports of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in 2019 and its rapid spread worldwide and the outbreak of a new highly variable strain of influenza A virus (H1N1) in 2009, developing quick, accurate monitoring and diagnostic approaches for emerging infections is considered critical. Efficient air sampling of coronaviruses and the H1N1 virus allows swift, real-time identification, triggering early adjuvant interventions. Electrostatic precipitation is an efficient method for sampling bio-aerosols as hydrosols; however, sampling conditions critically impact this method. Corona discharge ionizes surrounding air, generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), which may impair virus structural components, leading to RNA and/or protein damage and preventing virus detection. Herein, ascorbic acid (AA) dissolved in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was used as the sampling solution of an electrostatic sampler to counteract virus particle impairment, increasing virus survivability throughout sampling. The findings of this study indicate that the use of PBS+AA is effective in reducing the ROS damage of viral RNA by 95%, viral protein by 45% and virus yield by 60%.