Nadwa Atwi
Research Mentor(s): Ke Zhang
Mentor Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Authors:
Session: Session 7 (4:00pm – 4: 50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 25
Abstract
Influenza A virus is a common cause of seasonal outbreaks in humans. Influenza affects anywhere between 5% and 20% of the US population every year. Since the virus can survive on indoor surfaces, understanding how long it remains infectious can help us better assess transmission risks indoors. This study investigates the infectivity decay of the Influenza A virus on glass surfaces over time under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. We carried out experiments in an environmental chamber to mimic indoor environments (e.g., humidity and temperature). We placed the viral droplets on glass surfaces then measured the viral infectivity at different time intervals using TCID50 measurement. The results show that Influenza A virus decays more rapidly at relatively high humidity conditions. This suggests that humidity can strongly influence how long the virus stays active on surfaces. Studying the stability of Influenza A virus in indoor settings will improve our understanding of how different environmental factors influence viral transmission. The findings from this study can provide us with important information that can allow us to develop strategies to control infections and reduce the spreading of respiratory viruses in indoor environments.
