Aerobiologia最新文献

The SARS-CoV-2 presence and the bacterial community profile in air samples collected at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Operational Unit of Infectious Diseases of Santa Caterina Novella Hospital in Galatina (Lecce, Italy) have been evaluated in this study. Air samplings were performed in different rooms of the ICU ward with and without COVID-19 patients. No sample was found positive to SARS-CoV-2, according to Allplex 2019-nCoV Assay. The airborne bacterial community profiles determined by the 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding approach up to the species level were characterized by richness and biodiversity indices, Spearman correlation coefficients, and Principal Coordinate Analysis. Pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacterial species, also detected in outdoor air samples, were found in all collected indoor samples. Staphylococcus pettenkoferi, Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum, and others coagulase-negative staphylococci, detected at high relative abundances in all the patients’ rooms, were the most abundant pathogenic species. The highest mean relative abundance of S. pettenkoferi and C. tuberculostearicum suggested that they were likely the main pathogens of COVID-19 patients at the ICU ward of this study. The identification of nosocomial pathogens representing potential patients’ risks in ICU COVID-19 rooms and the still controversial airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 are the main contributions of this study.

Standards for manual pollen and fungal spore monitoring have been established based on several decades of experience, tests, and research. New technological and methodological advancements have led to the development of a range of different automatic instruments for which no standard yet exist. This paper aims to provide an overview of aspects that need to be considered for automatic pollen and fungal spore monitoring, including a set of guidelines and recommendations. It covers issues relevant to developing an automatic monitoring network, from the instrument design and calibration through algorithm development to site selection criteria. Despite no official standard yet existing, it is essential that all aspects of the measurement chain are carried out in a manner that is as standardised as possible to ensure high-quality data and information can be provided to end-users.

Plants have been exposed to the urban environment for many years, and in response to air pollution, they have adopted selective and adaptive changes. In this study, we examined Datura pollen deposition on the stigma for germination and also assessed the viability of the pollen along with its element and protein content. According to the hypothesis that pollen physiology is negatively impacted by air pollutants, we expected a highly polluted area to have a high degree of pollen abortion with low amount of total protein content with accumulation of different elements because the high amount of particulate pollutants deposited on pollen should alter its physiology. We found that pollen viability at all three different locations is significantly similar, while pollen germination is significantly affected by pollution in Amravati City. The protein content in pollen and its shape is also affected. Correlation analysis reveals the interrelationship between pollen viability, germination, elements and protein content with respect to the polluted area. Principal component analysis was used to determine pollen characteristics contributing to discriminate at the three locations studied. Results revealed that Datura is adaptive in nature. Further study is needed to evaluate the adaptive evolution of Datura with respect to pollen tube sensitivity and tolerance to environmental pollution.

Pollen monitoring has traditionally been carried out using manual methods first developed in the early 1950s. Although this technique has been recently standardised, it suffers from several drawbacks, notably data usually only being available with a delay of 3–9 days and usually delivered at a daily resolution. Several automatic instruments have come on to the market over the past few years, with more new devices also under development. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of all available and developing automatic instruments, how they measure, how they identify airborne pollen, what impacts measurement quality, as well as what potential there is for further advancement in the field of bioaerosol monitoring.

Respiratory allergies triggered by pollen allergens represent a significant health concern to the Irish public. Up to now, Ireland has largely refrained from participating in long-term aerobiological studies. Recently, pollen monitoring has commenced in several sampling locations around Ireland. The first results of the pollen monitoring campaigns for Dublin (urban) and Carlow (rural) concerning the period 2017–2019 and 2018–2019, respectively, are presented herein. Additional unpublished pollen data from 1978–1980 and, 2010–2011 were also incorporated in creating the first pollen calendar for Dublin. During the monitoring period over 60 pollen types were identified with an average Annual Pollen Integral (APIn) of 32,217 Pollen × day/m³ for Dublin and 78,411 Pollen × day/m³ for Carlow. The most prevalent pollen types in Dublin were: Poaceae (32%), Urticaceae (29%), Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (11%), Betula (10%), Quercus (4%), Pinus (3%), Fraxinus (2%), Alnus (2%) and Platanus (1%). The predominant pollen types in Carlow were identified as Poaceae (70%), Urticaceae (12%), Betula (10%), Quercus (2%), Fraxinus (1%) and Pinus (1%). These prevalent pollen types increased in annual pollen concentration in both locations from 2018 to 2019 except for Fraxinus. Although higher pollen concentrations were observed for the Carlow (rural) site a greater variety of pollen types were identified for the Dublin (urban) site. The general annual trend in the pollen season began with the release of tree pollen in early spring, followed by the release of grass and herbaceous pollen which dominated the summer months with the annual pollen season coming to an end in October. This behaviour was illustrated for 21 different pollen types in the Dublin pollen calendar. The correlation between ambient pollen concentration and meteorological parameters was also examined and differed greatly depending on the location and study year. A striking feature was a substantial fraction of the recorded pollen sampled in Dublin did not correlate with the prevailing wind directions. However, using non-parametric wind regression, specific source regions could be determined such as Alnus originating from the Southeast, Betula originating from the East and Poaceae originating from the Southwest.

The Caribbean is influenced by Sahara Dust Storms (SDS) every year. SDS can transport a diversity of microorganisms, including potential pathogens of humans, animals, and plants. In fact, SDS have been suggested as a source of Aspergillus sydowii, reported to cause aspergillosis disease in gorgonian sea fans. However, the diversity of fungal spores in SDS remains unknown and there are conflicting studies as to whether A. sydowii spore are capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. In this study, we estimated the fungal diversity of the Saharan dust trapped on air filters during five days of a ship’s trajectory in the eastern Atlantic during a dust event. Also, we investigated whether SDS is a potential source of opportunistic fungal pathogens. We isolated 30 morphospecies including the ascomycetes Aspergillus (33% of identified isolates), Thielavia (18%), Penicillium (12%), Chaetomium strumarium (3%), Periconia (2%), and Cladosporium sphaerospermum (1%). Many of these groups include opportunistic pathogens. Species diversity was similar across days but with significant differences between Days 3 vs 5 and between hazy vs clear days. We report for the first time that Thielavia, Chaetomium strumarium and Periconia are present in SDS and are capable of surviving long-distance transport in SDS. The presence of A. sydowii isolates is consistent with reports of SDS as a source of inoculum for sea fan aspergillosis. This could signify that SDS are carriers of viable, potentially pathogenic spores which can be deposited on terrestrial or aquatic substrates.

This article provides a brief review of morphological features (MFs), chemical and biological aspects of particulate matters (PMs) and their effects on humans and crops. Based on previous studies, it has been found that particles such as carbonaceous, metal-rich, crust-element, fly-ash and biological particles usually exhibit multifarious morphology, due to diverse sources. Thirty-seven elements have been identified; some of them, viz. arsenic, chromium, cadmium, lead, nickel, vanadium and titanium, are extremely hazardous for humans and plants compared to other elements. These toxic elements (TEs)/toxic metals (TMs) can pose several potential diseases such as respiratory, asthma, cardiovascular, neurological and reproductive diseases on humans and also damage the food security by the causing of direct/indirect injuries, such as chlorosis/necrosis, damages cell/tissue/stomata and stunting on crops. Airborne microbes (AMs), especially fungi, are vital components of atmospheric PMs; diverse species of aeromycoflora belonging to the genus Cladosporium, Conidia, Penicillium, Alternaria, Fusarium, Aspergillus and Puccinia have been found associated with atmospheric PMs in which mostly act as pathogens and can give rise to numerous categories of diseases in humans such as skin allergy, pulmonary, respiratory, aspergillosis, pneumonia and asthma as well as on crops (wheat, rice and maize) like rust, blast and spot. This valuable information about morphological, chemical and biological (fungi) features of atmospheric PMs, their sources and deleterious consequences on humans and crops will also be cooperative for future research to assess the toxic impacts of PMs on both humans as well as crops.

Graphical abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused an unprecedented loss of life with colossal social and economic fallout over 237 countries and territories worldwide. Environmental conditions played a significant role in spreading the virus. Despite the availability of literature, the consecutive waves of COVID-19 in all geographical conditions create the necessity of reviewing the impact of environmental factors on it. This study synthesized and reviewed the findings of 110 previously published articles on meteorological factors and COVID-19 transmission. This study aimed to identify the diversified impacts of meteorological factors on the spread of infection and suggests future research. Temperature, rainfall, air quality, sunshine, wind speed, air pollution, and humidity were found as investigated frequently. Correlation and regression analysis have been widely used in previous studies. Most of the literature showed that temperature and humidity have a favorable relationship with the spread of COVID-19. On the other hand, 20 articles stated no relationship with humidity, and nine were revealed the negative effect of temperature. The daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 4.86% for every 1 °C increase in temperature. Sunlight was also found as a significant factor in 10 studies. Moreover, increasing COVID-19 incidence appeared to be associated with increased air pollution, particularly PM10, PM2.5, and O₃ concentrations. Studies also indicated a negative relation between the air quality index and the COVID-19 cases. This review determined environmental variables' complex and contradictory effects on COVID-19 transmission. Hence it becomes essential to include environmental parameters into epidemiological models and controlled laboratory experiments to draw more precious results.

Daily monitoring of airborne fungal spores was carried out for the first time in Al Khor city, Qatar, using a Hirst type 7-day recording volumetric spore trap, from May 2017 to May 2019. During the sampling period, the annual and monthly fluctuations, as well as intradiurnal variations of airborne fungal spore concentrations, were evaluated. Cladosporium, followed by Alternaria, were the spore types most abundant in the atmosphere of the city, with a strong interannual variability in the atmospheric concentrations being observed. The Annual Spore Integrals (ASIns) were 3334 and 1172 spore * day/m³ (2017–2018), and 6796 and 1538 spore * day/m³ (2018–2019) for Cladosporium and Alternaria, respectively. Total daily spore concentrations showed significantly positive correlations with mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures but significantly negative correlations with relative humidity. However, due to the scarce rainfalls’ days, we did not find a statistically significant correlations between Cladosporium and Alternaria spore concentrations and this parameter. Despite this, the spore peaks were strongly related to precipitations that occurred during the previous month. In general, no significant correlations were found with wind speed but, regarding wind direction, the higher percentage of spores were collected when wind blows from the 4th quadrant (NW). According to the intradiurnal pattern, Cladosporium fungal spores displayed their maximum daily concentration during 8:00–10:00 h in the morning, with a second peak in the afternoon, while for Alternaria, the maximum peaks were observed between 08:00 and 14:00 h. Because no consistent previous aerobiological studies exist from Qatar, the aim of this study is to define the seasonality and intradiurnal behaviour of these two airborne fungal spore and the role that, in such arid scene, the meteorological parameters play on the spore concentrations.

Global air pollution is a serious problem, and the chemical components in PM can facilitate the invasion of biological components in the human body. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the health risks associated with fungi, as opposed to those associated with bacteria and viruses. This study analyzed fungal community structures, diversity and nutrition acquisition patterns under different weather conditions (sun, haze and dust). The results showed that the characteristics of the fungal community changed significantly when special weather occurred. Diversity and uniformity increased significantly, and the increase on haze days was greater than that on dust days. The dominant genera of fungi on sunny days were Periconia (26.76%) and Alternaria (27.56%), and the dominant genus of fungi on haze and dust days was Aspergillus (70.34 and 86.82%, respectively). According to the calculation of the concentration of cultivable fungi, the HI value on haze days was 1.43 times greater than that on sunny days. The exposure risk in adults was greater than that in children (adults (Age: 18–60) > adults (Age: > 60) > children (Age: 0–5) > children (Age: 6–17)). Within the same age group, the exposure risk in males was greater than that in females. According to the species annotation results, the relative abundance of dangerous fungi under special weather increased significantly, and the interaction between PM and microorganisms increased the health risk posed by special weather-related fungi in humans. The FUNGuild gene annotation results revealed that the pathogenic fungus content on sunny days was higher than those on haze and dust days, so the health risks associated with sunny days should not be ignored.