Aerosol inoculator for exposure of human volunteers.

The performance of an aerosol inoculator for human volunteers is described in tests that used the PR8 strain of type A influenza virus and sodium fluorescein as a physical tracer. Virus recovery from the aerosols was approximately 1% and was unaffected by such variables as prolonged aerosolization, total airflow, relative humidity, or method of sampling. The recovery of sodium fluorescein from the aerosol was approximately 12% and was influenced by total airflow rates and relative humidity. With this apparatus, it should be possible to deliver reasonably predictable and measurable doses of respiratory viruses to human subjects. The design makes it possible to dismantle the inoculator into its component parts to facilitate portability.