A portable clean air enclosure for neutropenic patients requiring hospital treatment: A preliminary study
| Autor: | R. Cartner, R.J. Minns |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1983 |
| Předmět: |
Microbiology (medical)
Granulocyte count medicine.medical_specialty Neutropenia Isolation (health care) business.industry Air Microbiology Patient Isolators General Medicine Emotional stress Reverse barrier nursing Ventilation Infectious Diseases Increased risk Hospital treatment Hospital admission Emergency medicine Humans Medicine business Intensive care medicine Agranulocytosis Severe neutropenia |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Hospital Infection. 4:406-409 |
| ISSN: | 0195-6701 |
| Popis: | The increasing use of aggressive cytotoxic treatment in haematological and other malignancies frequently results in severe neutropenia. It is generally accepted that patients with granulocyte counts below 1 .O x 109/1 are at increased risk of severe infection and that this risk is especially high when the count is below 0.1 x 109/1 (Selwyn, 1980). Despite the use of antibiotics, hospital-acquired infection today is nearly as prevalent as it was 20 years ago (Selwyn, 1982). Most infections in cancer patients arise from endogenous sources in open rooms but it has been shown that nearly half of these organisms were acquired from exogenous sources in open rooms during hospital admission (Schimpff et al., 1972). Many units use only ordinary rooms during treatment, the importance of airborne transport in these cases remains unclear. It has also been shown that the size of almost all airborne bacteria-carrying particles is within the range 4-28 pm (Sable, Lidwell and Kingston, 1963). We describe here a portable clean air enclosure which can be easily erected in a single or multibed ward. Bacterial tests confirmed the cleanliness of the air and the purging effect within 2 min of the device becoming operational. The canopy is acceptable to the patient, the area within being large enough to prevent a claustrophobic feeling, and the material being transparent so as to enable the patient to see through it. Emotional stress due to prolonged isolation has not been a problem. One of our patients (JC) who developed aplastic anaemia (granulocyte count 0.15 x 109/1, Hb 4.5 g/dl, platelets 10 x 1 O’jl) following treatment with carbamazepine and who recovered, was nursed continuously for 21 days in the enclosure. The frame is easily erected by portering staff. Passing of food or articles through the access flaps did not create conditions for air outside the canopy to enter under normal operating conditions. Conventional reverse barrier nursing techniques were associated with acceptable particle count levels. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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