The Importance of Real-Time Airborne Pathogen Detection: Discuss the significance of early detection in preventing disease outbreaks and ensuring public health.
Pandemic airborne pathogens
Pandemic airborne pathogens can often be conveyed through the air, and transmission efficiency is one of the most important characteristics to assess the impact of infectious diseases. They are classified in groups of bacteria, fungi and viruses that high amounts of genetic variations and mutations in their ribonucleic acids converted them to more virulent spices with more pathogenicity. These microorganisms that spread through the air (airborne microorganisms) easily enter living organisms either directly by breathing or indirectly by settling onto surfaces, creating a severe threat to human health and economic growth. Therefore, the threat of airborne pathogens should be taken very seriously (1).
Rapid case identification
In order to reduce transmission, quick and early identification of new cases is an important factor during pandemic. At present, most of the test samples of microorganisms come from clinical samples, which mainly include nasopharyngeal swabs and saliva for examining samples of the upper respiratory tract, alveolar fluid and sputum for examining the lower respiratory tract and other body fluids. Collecting different types of samples can affect the detection of microorganisms. Clinical samples often have high diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, but require professional operation and cause discomfort to subjects. Most technologies require on-site sampling and further testing in the laboratory, with a complex operation process and long detection time. Indeed, traditional methods are either expensive and time-consuming or have low sensitivity toward detecting contagious pathogens. Rapid detection and point-of-care (POC) analysis of airborne microorganisms that cause these diseases are important. Digital technologies can provide rapid results about multiple assays (e.g., immunoassays, real-time PCR/ nucleic acid detection) in verification of specific pathogens. In addition , using these systems provide methods for interfacing with analytical methods and standard laboratory (2).
Limitations of delayed identification
The spread of infectious diseases in the air has a significant impact on human life and health, the economy and the world community. Airborne infectious diseases can be transmitted from person to person that spread rapidly and widely, which can easily cause social panic. On the other hand, postponement in identification and high transmission of infection leads to the death in a large population in the society.
Advantages of rapid detection
Timely detection, identification, monitoring and investigation of airborne pathogens or dangerous substances enables the rapid implementation of measures to ensure safety and prevent the transmission of airborne microorganisms in the human environment to prevent the spread of airborne diseases in the population. Likewise, direct detection of air samples has received widespread attention in recent years, and air samples mainly include exhaled breath and particulate matter. Detection of air sample on-site are convenience and has short detection time. But environmental factors easily influence on it. furthermore, low content of airborne microorganisms in the environment, with diverse species and many impurities, cause difficulty in detection (3).
References:
1. Sivakumar R, Lee NY. Recent advances in airborne pathogen detection using optical and electrochemical biosensors. Anal Chim Acta. 2022;
2. Cui F, Zhou HS. Diagnostic methods and potential portable biosensors for coronavirus disease 2019. Biosens Bioelectron. 2020;
3. Ma J, Du M, Wang C, Xie X, Wang H, Zhang Q. Advances in airborne microorganisms detection using biosensors: A critical review. Front Environ Sci Eng. 2021;15(3):1–19.
4. Budd J, Miller BS, Manning EM, Lampos V, Zhuang M, Edelstein M, et al. Digital technologies in the public-health response to COVID-19. Nat Med [Internet]. 2020;26(8):1183–92. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1011-4
