Indoor hospital air and the impact of ventilation on bioaerosols: a systematic review

Publication date: Available online 4 July 2019Source: Journal of Hospital InfectionAuthor(s): Rebecca E. Stockwell, Emma L. Ballard, Peter O’Rourke, Luke D. Knibbs, Lidia Morawska, Scott C. BellSummaryHospital-acquired infections (HAI) continue to persist in hospitals, despite the use of increasingly strict infection control precautions. Opportunistic airborne transmission of potentially pathogenic bioaerosols may be one possible reason for this persistence. Therefore, we aimed to systematically review the concentrations and compositions of indoor bioaerosols in different areas within hospitals and the effects of different ventilation systems. Electronic databases (Medline and Web of Science) were searched to identify articles of interest. The search was restricted to articles published from 2000 to 2017 in English. Aggregate data was used to examine the differences in mean colony forming units per cubic metre (CFU/m3) between different hospital areas and ventilation types. A total of 36 journal articles met the eligibility criteria. The mean total bioaerosol concentrations in the different areas of the hospitals were highest in the inpatient facilities (77 CFU/m3, 95% confidence interval (CI), 55-108) compared with the restricted (4 CFU/m3, 95% CI, 10-15) and public areas (14 CFU/m3, 95% CI, 10-19). Hospital areas with natural ventilation had the highest total bioaerosol concentrations (201 CFU/m3, 95% CI, 135-300) compared with areas using conventional mechanical ventilat...
Source: Journal of Hospital Infection - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research