1SCIENTIFIC REPOrTS }?3{| DI? 10.103~srep3{|
www.nature.comscientificreports
Universal and reusable virus
deactivation system for respiratory
protection
Fu-Shi Quan
1,*
, Ilaria Rubino
2,*
, Su-Hwa Lee
3
, Brendan Koch
2
& Hyo-Jick Choi
2
Aerosolized pathogens are a leading cause of respiratory infection and transmission. Currently used
protective measures pose potential risk of primary/secondary infection and transmission. Here, we
report the development of a universal, reusable virus deactivation system by functionalization of
the main fibrous filtration unit of surgical mask with sodium chloride salt. The salt coating on the
fiber surface dissolves upon exposure to virus aerosols and recrystallizes during drying, destroying
the pathogens. When tested with tightly sealed sides, salt-coated filters showed remarkably higher
filtration efficiency than conventional mask filtration layer, and 100% survival rate was observed in
mice infected with virus penetrated through salt-coated filters. Viruses captured on salt-coated filters
exhibited rapid infectivity loss compared to gradual decrease on bare filters. Salt-coated filters proved
highly effective in deactivating influenza viruses regardless of subtypes and following storage in harsh
environmental conditions. Our results can be applied in obtaining a broad-spectrum, airborne pathogen
prevention device in preparation for epidemic and pandemic of respiratory diseases.
Aerosols take a prominent role in airborne transmission of respiratory diseases. Droplets with aerodynamic size
(d
a) < 10 μm and 10 < d
a < 100 μm are known to infect the alveolar regions and upper respiratory tract, respec-
tively
1,2
. Notably, aerosols can also be a route of infection in diseases that, contrary to for instance influenza, do
not specifically target the respiratory tract, as it could be the case of Ebola virus
3
. While vaccination can greatly
reduce morbidity and mortality, during a pandemic or epidemic new vaccines matching the specific strain would
be available, at the earliest, six months after the initial outbreak. Additionally, following development of an effec-
tive viral vaccine, several potential problems would remain, such as limited supply due to insufficient production
capacity and time-consuming manufacturing processes. As a result, individuals close to the point of an outbreak
would be in imminent danger of exposure to infectious diseases during the non-vaccine period. In the absence
of vaccination, respirators and masks can be worn to prevent transmission of airborne pathogenic aerosols and
control diseases, such as influenza
4
.
The main alternative, the N95 respirator, requires training prior to use, must be expertly fitted to address the
risk of faceseal leakage at the face-mask interface, and must be disposed of as biohazard
5
. Due to these factors,
the use of N95 respirators on a large scale is impractical and expensive during an epidemic or pandemic. Past
experiences of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), H1N1 swine flu in 2009, and Middle East respira-
tory syndrome (MERS) indicate that surgical masks have been most widely adopted by the public as personal
protective measure, despite controversy on their effectiveness
6–9
. Currently, among other factors, filtration in
respirators and masks depends on filter characteristics, including fiber diameter, packing density, charge of fibers
and filter thickness, as well as particle properties, such as diameter, density and velocity
10–14
. However, in the lack
of a system to deactivate the collected pathogens, safety concerns naturally arise about secondary infection and
contamination from virus-laden filter media during utilization and disposal. Furthermore, since re-sterilization is
not possible without causing damage, respirators and masks are recommended for single use only
9,15,16
. Scientific
efforts have been focused on treatment of filters with materials possessing well-known antimicrobial properties,
such as iodine, chlorine and metals
17–25
, although with limited effectiveness against virus aerosols
26–28
. Therefore,
a key challenge is the development of an easy-to-use, universal virus negation system, which is reusable without
1
Department of Medical Zoology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, 130-701, Korea.
2
Department
of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada.
3
Department of
Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 130-701, Korea.
*
These authors contributed
equally to this work. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to H.J.C. (email: hyojick@
ualberta.ca)
received: 04 August 2016
accepted: 30 November 2016
Published: 04 January 2017
OPEN