The influence of various chemical additives on the survival of vesicular exanthema virus in aerosols.

The influence of relative humidity (r.h.) on the survival of vesicular exanthema virus (VEV) in aerosols at I s and during the next 5 min when generated from phosphate buffer solution containing polyhydroxy compounds, dimethyl sulphoxide, salt or protein has been examined. VEV was sensitive to r.h. in the range of 40 to 60% in the presence of bovine serum albumin, glucose, inositol or phosphate buffer. Addition of sodium chloride stabilized the virus in aerosols at mid-range r.h. both immediately after generation and after a period of storage for 5 min. In the presence of dimethyl sulphoxide or glycerol, virus survival was reduced at 20% r.h. at I s and at all r.h. during the first 5 min. Pre-humidification did not produce any significant difference in virus recovery.