Air collected near hospitalized patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) tested positive for the virus far more often than air near patients with influenza A, according to a study in the Journal of Medical Virology summarized by CIDRAP. Researchers in the Netherlands found viral genetic material in at least one air sample for 57% of RSV patients, compared with 15% of flu patients.
The authors caution that a positive air sample does not show that the air could infect anyone. Their test looked for viral genetic material, not live virus, and that limitation shapes how much the finding should change what families do.
