Olympics & air sampling

Mass public events and microbial composition (virome and microbiome) of the air in crowded community settings in Ile-de-France, France

This project, being carried out at the Institut Pasteur within the Environment and Infectious Risks unit aims to characterise the microbial composition (virome and microbiome) of the air in crowded spaces in an urban environment (restaurants and bars). The study will be based on air samples collected over a 6-week period from mid-July to the end of August: before, during and after the Olympic Games. The aim is to assess whether a mass gathering of this scale has any impact on the diversity and microbial genomic load of air in community settings. This microbial genomic diversity will be characterised using broad-spectrum molecular detection (syndromic multiplex PCR) and metagenomics.

This research will be carried out in collaboration with the Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology and the Laboratory of Viral Metagenomics at KU Leuven, in the context of the DURABLE network. These teams have several years’ experience in setting up this type of study. They have carried out research on air sampling in Belgium in a variety of settings, particularly in the community (hospitals, stadiums, canteens, schools, nursing homes).

This project is enabled by a unique collaboration between Institut Pasteur and KU Leuven, where people, material and expertise from both institutions are mobilized.

See also the this website from HERA: HERA supports research on clean air and airborne microbes during the Paris Olympic Games – European Commission (europa.eu)