Editorial: the airborne microbiome - implications for aerosol transmission and infection control – special issue

Although the title of the Special Issue is ‘Airborne Microbiome’ the manuscripts received have highlighted a variety of peripheral, yet related aspects of this. The contributions are a mixture of primary research, reviews and commentaries, including: new methods to explore environmental niches where such microbes may grow, their detection and characterisation in the human host, which pathogens are present in the respiratory tract and can be exhaled in human breath to potentially spread via the airborne route, and some strategies for their control. Finally, a historical-to-current overview explores human-microbial interactions, including problems with sampling and detection methods, drug resistance, the role of super-spreaders and issues around research funding.