doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2012.00163 Infectious disease aerobiology: miasma incarnate

There is an exceedingly small group of microorganisms that are considered pathogenic in humans relative to the microbial biota—with literally just a few bacterial and viral agents that have the potential to cause disease when transmitted in aerosol form. This group of pathogens has adapted to circumvent the rigors of airborne transport to enter the respiratory system and induce infection. The changes that take place in the microbial composi-tion during this process, including expulsion of bioaerosols from an infected host, is a multifaceted process that ultimately effects the underlying functionality of the organism and the induc-tion of disease in the host target. Similarly, the nature of the aerosol source can be determinative of the size distribution of the pathogenic aerosols and thus affect the pattern of initial depo-sition in the respiratory system and the tissue/cell types most impacted by the pathogen