Governments and the public grow more concerned daily about the safety of the air we breathe.  There are allergies, mold spores, offensive odors, and environmental pathogens.  Some of those are horrible, pandemic types.  And lurking in the background is the threat of bioterrorism.  In the past populations could rely on ventilation of the home and workplace by outside clean air.  But outside air ventilation has virtually disappeared with leak-free building standards to conserve energy costs.

Airborne pathogens differ from bloodborne pathogens in that they are spread by inhaling the germ. There are three types of airborne pathogens: Viral, Bacterial, and  Fungal.  A complete list is available at this link (click). 

An infectious person's coughing or sneezing can send tiny droplets of moisture into the air that contain the pathogen. Depending on the environment, these contaminants can remain airborne for several hours.  If an airborne pathogen is inhaled, the pathogen may be transmitted.  Exposure to airborne pathogens does not always result in infection, however. On this page you see some of the airborne pathogens that we worry about, every day.

Tuberculosis 

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a specific bacteria.  The disease usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect the brain, spine, or kidneys. The world-wide occurrence is very high, with 3 million world deaths annually, predicted to rise to 5 million by the year 2050.  Many people with a TB infection may not be sick because their bodies are effectively fighting the bacteria, and these people are not contagious. About 10% of people with a TB infection develop the disease later, however, and may become contagious. According to the CDC, employees in the following workplaces face a greater risk of exposure: Commercial airlines,  correctional facilities,  drug and treatment centers,  healthcare facilities,  homeless shelters, and long-term care facilities.  TB is spread when a person inhales the TB pathogen, which is present in the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes. Depending on room size, ventilation, and other factors, the TB pathogen can live up to 1 to 1-1/2 hours outside the body. The death rate for hospitalized tuberculosis patients in the U.S. alone is 4 percent according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

SARS

In 2003, an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in some parts of the world caused a new scare.  SARS is primarily an infectious disease caused by the SARS coronavirus, transmitted when an infected person coughs or sneezes within close proximity of others.  During the 2003 epidemic, almost 10% of the 8,096 known SARS victims in the world died.  Only 7 people in the U.S. were known to have contracted SARS, however, and all during international travel to epidemic areas.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to monitor the risks of SARS and will issue updates and warnings if new outbreaks occur .

Bird Flu

Avian influenza is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza viruses. These influenza viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them. Because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that the H5N1 variety of the virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population. If H5N1 virus were to gain the capacity to spread easily from person to person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin.

MRSA

Staphylococcus aureus is an upper respiratory tract infection, the most common cause of Staph infections, particularly in medical facilities.  It is a spherical bacterium, frequently living on the skin or in the nose of a person, that can cause a range of illnesses from minor skin infections, such as pimples, boils, cellulitis and abscesses, to life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, Toxic shock syndrome (TSS), and septicemia.  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are isolates of the bacterium that have acquired genes encoding antibiotic resistance to all penicillins, including methicillin and other narrow-spectrum ß-lactamase-resistant penicillin antibiotics. MRSA is now widespread in the hospital setting, and MRSA is commonly termed a superbug.  MRSA has traditionally been seen as a hospital-associated infection.  According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 20% of the 368,600 patients who were treated in U.S. hospitals for MRSA during 2005 died.  Community-acquired MRSA strains have also appeared in recent years, particularly in schools in the U.S. and Australia.  Recently, gaseous ozone has been shown to be extremely effective in reduction of this hard to treat, drug-resistant, superbug.  (See article here.)

Stachybotrys

Stachybotrys chartarum is a fungus that has become notorious as a mycotoxin producer causing animal and human mycotoxicosis.  Known as the “black mold”, over the past 15 years in North America, evidence has accumulated implicating this fungus as a serious problem in homes and buildings and one of the causes of the "sick building syndrome."  It can be lethal.  There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 different species that grow in surroundings where the humidity exceeds 50%.

Penicillium