Aerosol Particle Size Distribution and Genetic Characteristics of Aerosolized Influenza a H1N1 Virus Vaccine Particles

Im-Soon Lee；Hyung Joo Kim；Dae Hee Lee；Gi Byoung Hwang；Jae Hee Jung；Mikyung Lee；Jang-Soon Lim；Byung Uk Lee

Influenza A H1N1 ； Influenza ； Bioaerosol ； Vaccine ； RT-PCR

Aerosol and Air Quality Research

11卷3期（2011 / 06 / 01）

230 - 237

英文

Influenza has increasingly become a global issue that threatens human lives worldwide. While an aerosol-type influenza vaccine has been licensed for the treatment of seasonal influenza via intranasal administration, the physical and genetic characteristics of aerosols containing vaccine particles have not yet been reported in either a native or artificial environment. In this study, we aerosolized a conventional vaccine solution containing inactivated split influenza particles and measured the size distribution of the aerosol particles after nebulization. We also tested a novel method for detecting a minimal amount of the viral particles in the aerosols by amplifying the viral genomic RNAs in the vaccine solution via reverse transcription-PCR. In the results, we found via TEM that the morphology of the viral particles in the vaccine solution was not significantly deteriorated by the inactivation process. The aerosolized vaccine particles exhibited a mode diameter of 130 nm. In addition, the viral RNAs were successfully amplified from the inactivated split virus vaccine solution even after the nebulization process. Taken together, the current experimental results provide basic information regarding the general characteristics of the inactivated influenza viral particles in the vaccine, including genetic properties, and may contribute to the effective use of the vaccine solution in medical protocols.