Point-of-Care Air Surveillance of Respiratory Pathogens Using the GeneXpert(R) System

Advances in air-based surveillance of pathogen genetic material are hindered by reliance on centralized, time-consuming molecular techniques. Point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms, like the Cepheid(R) GeneXpert(R), offer rapid, simplified testing in clinical settings but have not been evaluated for use with air samples. Here, we paired the ThermoFisherTM AerosolSenseTM air sampler with the Xpert(R) Xpress SARS-CoV-2/Flu/RSV Plus test to evaluate near-real-time air surveillance. To assess analytical sensitivity, we spiked collection substrates with inactivated viruses and performed overnight sampling using the air sampler. As few as 10 copies of influenza A/B (IAV/IBV) and RSV applied to t