Presenter Status
Resident/Psychology Intern
Abstract Type
Clinical Research
Primary Mentor or Principal Investigator
Jennifer Schuster
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
15-5-2026 12:00 PM
End Date
15-5-2026 12:15 PM
Abstract Text
Background:
As shown by the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, respiratory viruses have significant impact to public health, morbidity, and mortality. Large scale viral surveillance within the community can be helpful in monitoring viral spread and disease patterns, but population level testing can be costly and time consuming. Air sampling with respiratory virus testing in community settings may be a potential non-invasive, scalable method to monitor respiratory viruses.
Objectives/Goal:
We performed an ecological analysis to describe the correlation between respiratory virus detections in air and human samples across pre-kindergarten-12th grade schools to evaluate the potential for air sampling as a tool for community-level surveillance.
Methods/Design:
Knowledge of Infectious Diseases in Schools (School KIDS) is a voluntary respiratory virus surveillance program in a pre-kindergarten-12th grade public school district in Kansas City, MO. In 10 schools, students and staff collected anterior nasal swabs while at school, with optional on-demand swabbing when experiencing acute respiratory illness symptoms. Simultaneously, air samples were collected biweekly using AerosolSense samplers (ThermoFisher Scientific) in 2-4 (total n=32) school locations (i.e., classrooms and nurse’s office) per school for 6-8 hours during the schoolday. All specimens were tested by multiplex PCR for adenovirus, human metapneumovirus (hMPV), influenza (Flu) A and B, parainfluenza viruses (PIV) 1-4, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV), SARS-CoV-2, and seasonal coronaviruses ([sCoV] OC43, HKU1, NL63, 229E). Positivity was defined as detection of ≥1 virus. District-wide weekly virus positivity rates from human and air samples were compared using Spearman’s rank correlation.
Results:
During September 18, 2024–March 31, 2025, 839 participants submitted 3851 specimens, with 970 (25.2%) testing positive for >1 virus. Of the 353 air samples, 312 (88.4%) had a detectable virus. Air sample positivity was higher than human specimen positivity in all 22 weeks. Strong positive correlations were observed for RSV (0.87), sCoV OC43 (0.87), PIV-4 (0.73); moderate for sCoV NL63 (0.61), Flu A (0.58), and SARS-CoV-2 (0.53); and weak for hMPV (0.29) and RV/EV (0.12).
Conclusions:
Air sampling in schools demonstrated moderate-to-strong correlation with human respiratory virus detections for several viruses, suggesting possible utility for non-invasive public health monitoring. Further studies are needed to evaluate the relationship between air and human virus detection.
Circulation of Respiratory Viruses from Air and Human Specimens in a Pre-kindergarten-12th Grade School District in Kansas City, MO
Background:
As shown by the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, respiratory viruses have significant impact to public health, morbidity, and mortality. Large scale viral surveillance within the community can be helpful in monitoring viral spread and disease patterns, but population level testing can be costly and time consuming. Air sampling with respiratory virus testing in community settings may be a potential non-invasive, scalable method to monitor respiratory viruses.
Objectives/Goal:
We performed an ecological analysis to describe the correlation between respiratory virus detections in air and human samples across pre-kindergarten-12th grade schools to evaluate the potential for air sampling as a tool for community-level surveillance.
Methods/Design:
Knowledge of Infectious Diseases in Schools (School KIDS) is a voluntary respiratory virus surveillance program in a pre-kindergarten-12th grade public school district in Kansas City, MO. In 10 schools, students and staff collected anterior nasal swabs while at school, with optional on-demand swabbing when experiencing acute respiratory illness symptoms. Simultaneously, air samples were collected biweekly using AerosolSense samplers (ThermoFisher Scientific) in 2-4 (total n=32) school locations (i.e., classrooms and nurse’s office) per school for 6-8 hours during the schoolday. All specimens were tested by multiplex PCR for adenovirus, human metapneumovirus (hMPV), influenza (Flu) A and B, parainfluenza viruses (PIV) 1-4, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV), SARS-CoV-2, and seasonal coronaviruses ([sCoV] OC43, HKU1, NL63, 229E). Positivity was defined as detection of ≥1 virus. District-wide weekly virus positivity rates from human and air samples were compared using Spearman’s rank correlation.
Results:
During September 18, 2024–March 31, 2025, 839 participants submitted 3851 specimens, with 970 (25.2%) testing positive for >1 virus. Of the 353 air samples, 312 (88.4%) had a detectable virus. Air sample positivity was higher than human specimen positivity in all 22 weeks. Strong positive correlations were observed for RSV (0.87), sCoV OC43 (0.87), PIV-4 (0.73); moderate for sCoV NL63 (0.61), Flu A (0.58), and SARS-CoV-2 (0.53); and weak for hMPV (0.29) and RV/EV (0.12).
Conclusions:
Air sampling in schools demonstrated moderate-to-strong correlation with human respiratory virus detections for several viruses, suggesting possible utility for non-invasive public health monitoring. Further studies are needed to evaluate the relationship between air and human virus detection.
