No seasonality of outdoor airborne Aspergillus spore concentration

Ref ID: 19243

Author:

M. O

Author address:

Aarau, CH

Full conference title:

23rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and
Infectious Diseases

Date: 27 April 2014

Abstract:

Objective: The frequency of Aspergillus spores in outdoor air is considered to obey seasonal variation like other mould genera. A long term monitoring study intends to demonstrate the occurrence and distribution of Aspergillus spores in a hospital environment to see if these air-borne spores are influenced by seasonal parameters (e.g. air temperature, relative humidity).
Methods: Outdoor air was monitored since September 2009 in the campus of the Cantonal Hospital of Aarau, Switzerland. Air was sampled in duplicate once weekly by impaction principle on Sabouraud dextrose agar plates (incubation at 28°C and at 35°C to grow all culturable moulds and pathogenic Aspergillus, respectively). Grown mould colonies were identified to genus level.
Results: The annual median of air-borne Aspergillus spore concentration varied from 4 to 8 spores/m^3 and showed an over all median of 6 spores/m^3 (inter-quartile range (IQR) 2 – 14). Comparison between the season winter, spring, and summer showed similar spore concentration but an increased spore concentration in autumn. The spore concentration of other mould genera was significantly different between the seasons and highest in summer (median of 200 spores/m^3, IQR 120 – 345).
Conclusion: These preliminary results of an on-going study show that Aspergillus spores are not elevated in the warm season and that these spores are in tendency not affected by seasonality. Short term increases of Aspergillus spores seems to be due to activities (e.g. wiping leaves in autumn) and factors (wind) unrelated to seasons. This finding could influence guidelines for neutropenic patients (e.g. wearing a mask outdoor only in summer or throughout the year?).

Abstract Number: R2817

Conference Year: 2013

Link to conference website: http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php?XNABSTRACT_ID=164442&XNSPRACHE_ID=2&XNKONGRESS_ID=180&XNMASK

New link: NULL

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