Aerosol infectious

Decontamination Soap and water, or diluted sodium hypochlorite solution (0.5 percent). Removal of potentially contaminated clothing should be done by people in full protective clothing in an area away from non-contaminated persons. For victims with bubonic plague, drainage, and secretion procedures need to be employed. Careful treatment of buboes is required to avoid aerosolizing infectious material. For victims with pneumonic plague, strict isolation is absolutely necessary. Heat, disinfectants and sunlight renders bacteria harmless. 

Clinical trials in Bra2H in 1977 of the oral adininistration of ribavirin prompted the Bra2iUan government to approve its use for treating infectious hepatitis A (126). Because ribavirin is water-soluble, it can be dispersed readily in a fine-particle aerosol. Clinical trials (127) indicate that such aerosols... 

In theory, the interruption of NoV transmission after fomite contamination is straightforward the affected objects must be disinfected. In practice, disinfection can become a complex problem. The school described above had implemented a rigorous cleaning protocol with an appropriate bleach solution but failed to consider the computer mice and keyboards for disinfection (CDC, 2008). Vomiting events are particularly difficult to clean, as the contaminated area can be large, and infectious aerosols are postulated to persist in the environment (Evans et ah, 2002 Marks et ah, 2003). 

Some diseases caused by bacteria are communicable and easily transferred from an infected individual to anyone in close proximity. Typically, this occurs when the infected individual coughs or sneezes creating an infectious aerosol. These aerosols enter the body of a new host through inhalation and /or contact of the aerosol with the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, or mouth. In addition, although intact skin is an effective barrier against most pathogens, abrasions, or lacerations circumvents this protective barrier and allows entry of the pathogen into the body. 

Unless the cadaver is coming directly from the scene of an attack (e.g., "anthrax" letter, aerosol release), process the body according to established procedures for handling potentially infectious remains. 

Diagnosis If signs and symptoms spelled out above are noted in large numbers of geographically clustered patients, exposure to aerosolized ricin is the suggested cause. The rapid time course of severe symptoms and death would be unusual for infectious agents. Laboratory findings are nonspecific except for specific serum ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Acute and convalescent sera (plural of serum ) should be collected. 

Caution With some noteworthy exceptions, there is no cure or established drug treatment for viral hemorrhagic fever. All the VHF agents, except for dengue fever, are infectious by aerosol in the laboratory. 

Francisella tularensis is very infectious. A small number (10-50 or so organisms) can cause disease. If F. tularensis were used as a weapon, the bacteria would likely be made airborne for exposure by inhalation. People who inhale an infectious aerosol would generally experience severe respiratory illness, including life-threatening pneumonia and systemic infection, if they are not treated. The bacteria that cause tularemia occur widely in nature and could be isolated and grown in quantity in a laboratory, although manufacturing an effective aerosol weapon would require considerable sophistication. 

Coxiella burnetii is a highly infectious bacterium. A single bacterial cell can produce clinical illness. For this reason it is a very strong candidate for use by terrorists via aerosol delivery. While the incubation period is 2 to 14 days, the average is 7 days. In rare instances, incubation period can extend up to 1 month. After infection and proliferation in the lungs, the organisms are picked up by macrophages and carried to the lymph nodes, and from there to the bloodstream. 

An increased susceptibility to Streptococcus zooepidemicus aerosol was not observed in mice exposed to 5 ppm phenol for 3 hours, or for 5 daily 3-hour periods (Aranyi et al. 1986). Neither did the phenol exposures affect pulmonary bactericidal activity towards Klebsiella pneumonia. Although tests for vulnerability to infectious agents do not represent a comprehensive evaluation of immunological competence, the 5-ppm level can be considered a NOAEL for this specific immunological effect, and is recorded in Table 2-1 and plotted in Figure 2-1. 

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