Evaluation of influenza virus inactivation on filter salt coatings for respiratory protection applications

Airborne pathogens can easily and quickly spread respiratory diseases. Devices currently used for protection in hospitals, such as N95 respirators, rely only on filtration. Additionally, surgical masks have been increasingly used, although not effective against aerosols. This has been observed during past pandemics and epidemics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), swine flu, and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). If the filters do not inactivate the pathogens, the contaminated masks can cause infection and transmission of the diseases. We propose a universal and reusable mask, which efficiently kills pathogens on its filter. We have reported the development of a safe, highly effective sodium chloride-coated filter, which destroys influenza virus using salt recrystallization. In this collaboration, we will further characterize the influenza-neutralizing capability of different salt coating formulations, by fine-tuning their properties to match different environmental conditions of use/storage. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Hyo-Jick Choi

Student:

Partner:

Georgia State University

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Biotechnology; Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Technology

University:

University of Alberta

Program: