ArticleBMJ open respiratory research2018
Face mask sampling reveals antimicrobial resistance genes in exhaled aerosols from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy volunteers.
Article in BMJ open respiratory research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Molecular Approach for Detecting Bacteria and Fungi in Healthcare Environment Aerosols: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Transmission routes of antibiotic resistant bacteria: a systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Disposable Face Masks for Noninvasive Drug Detection: A Proof-of-Concept Study with Cough Syrup Constituents.Analytical chemistry · 2025Article
- Mask device as a new wearable sampler for breath analysis: what can we expect in the future?Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2023Article
- Antibiotic resistance in chronic respiratory diseases: from susceptibility testing to the resistome.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2022Review
- Recent advances in facemask devices forTrends in analytical chemistry : TRAC · 2022Review
- Exhaled SARS-CoV-2 quantified by face-mask sampling in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.The Journal of infection · 2021Article
- A metagenomic-based method to study hospital air dust resistome.Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) · 2021Article
- Incidence and disease burden of herpes zoster in the population aged ≥50 years in China: Data from an integrated health care network.The Journal of infection · 2021Article
- Metagenomics Reveals a Core Macrolide Resistome Related to Microbiota in Chronic Respiratory Disease.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2020Article
- Exhaled Mycobacterium tuberculosis output and detection of subclinical disease by face-mask sampling: prospective observational studies.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2020Observational
- Variability of the Ability of Complex Microbial Communities to Exclude Microbes Carrying Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Rabbits.Frontiers in microbiology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThe degree to which bacteria in the human respiratory tract are aerosolised by individuals is not established. Building on our experience sampling bacteria exhaled by individuals with pulmonary tuberculosis using face masks, we hypothesised that patients with conditions frequently treated with antimicrobials, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), might exhale significant numbers of bacteria carrying antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and that this may constitute a previously undefined risk for the transmission of AMR.
methodsFifteen-minute mask samples were taken from 13 patients with COPD (five paired with contemporaneous sputum samples) and 10 healthy controls. DNA was extracted from cell pellets derived from gelatine filters mounted within the mask. Quantitative PCR analyses directed to the AMR encoding genes:
results9 patients with COPD (69%), aerosolised cells containing, in order of prevalence, DISCUSSION: We identified aerosolised AMR genes in patients repeatedly exposed to antimicrobials and in healthy volunteers at lower frequencies and levels. The discrepancies between paired samples add weight to the view that sputum content does not define aerosol content. Mask sampling is a simple approach yielding samples from all subjects and information distinct from sputum analysis. Our results raise the possibility that patient-generated aerosols may be a significant means of AMR dissemination that should be assessed further and that consideration be given to related control measures.
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