With the current expansion of interest in diagnostic and research
virology, and in view of the aerosol production capability of
standard laboratory techniques as mentioned previously, a corresponding
increase in laboratory-acquired viral illnesses would be expected
among personnel who handle these agents.
The large doses of bacterial agents required to
produce disease via ingestion help to explain why all microbiologists
do not become clinically ill from their cultures. In addition,
the very low inhalation dose for certain agents (e.g., F.
tularensis, C. burnetti, measles virus, and coxsackie
A21 virus) points out the importance of preventing aerosol formation
in the laboratory environment and illustrates why the direct
cause of the majority of laboratory associated infections may
go undetected.
