TIOKRAFT VR 400 test results at the National Institute for Occupational Health, Johannesburg, South Africa

An avirulent strain of tuberculosis (MTB H37Ra) was used during the experiment, closely phenotypically and genotypically related with the wild strain of drug-resistant causative tuberculosis agent. The original solution MTB H37Ra in concentration ~1x10⁶ bacteria/ml was converted into aerosol which was sprayed in the box of 16 m2 for 60 minutes at a height of 0,9 m simulating the average height of a man lying in a hospital bed.

Then the primary air samples were collected in 6 sampling points (A, B, C, D, E, F) at a height of 1,4 m above the floor level in four time intervals (1, 4, 6 and 12 hours). Bacteria were captured from the air on the membrane of polytetrafluorethylene fibers. The samples were estimated quantitatively in real time using the polymeric chain reaction (QPCR).

The results are presented as the number of DNA copies per m³ where one copy of DNA corresponds to one bacterial cell strain H37Ra.

The experience was repeated when TIOKRAFT VR 400 operated with low capacity (about 120 m³/h).

2015-09-08