Decreasing Airborne Contamination Levels in High-Risk Hospital Areas Using a Novel Mobile Air-Treatment Unit

Autor: N. Laudinet, Gabriel Reboux, Vance Bergeron, J. L. Poirot
Přispěvatelé: Laboratoire Chrono-environnement ( LCE ), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté ( UBFC ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ) -Université de Franche-Comté ( UFC ), Laboratoire Chrono-environnement - CNRS - UBFC (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)
Rok vydání: 2007
Předmět:
Zdroj: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, University of Chicago Press, 2007, 28 (10), pp.1181-6. 〈10.1086/520733〉
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, University of Chicago Press, 2007, 28 (10), pp.1181-6. ⟨10.1086/520733⟩
ISSN: 1559-6834
0899-823X
0195-9417
DOI: 10.1086/520733
Popis: Objective.To evaluate the performance of a new mobile air-treatment unit that uses nonthermal-plasma reactors for lowering the airborne bioburden in critical hospital environments and reducing the risk of nosocomial infection due to opportunistic airborne pathogens, such asAspergillus fumigatus.Methods.Tests were conducted in 2 different high-risk hospital areas: an operating room under simulated conditions and rooms hosting patients in a pediatric hematology ward. Operating room testing provided performance evaluations of removal rates for airborne contamination (ie, particles larger than 0.5μm) and overall lowering of the airborne bioburden (ie, colony-forming units of total mesophilic flora and fungal flora per cubic meter of air). In the hematology service, opportunistic and nonpathogenic airborne fungal levels in a patient's room equipped with an air-treatment unit were compared to those in a control room.Results.In an operating room with a volume of 118 m3, the time required to lower the concentration of airborne particles larger than 0.5μm by 90% was decreased from 12 minutes with the existing high-efficiency particulate air filtration system to less than 2 minutes with the units tested, with a 2-log decrease in the steady-state levels of such particles (PPPConclusion.Our data indicate that the mobile, nonthermal-plasma air treatment unit tested in this study can rapidly reduce the levels of airborne particles and significantly lower the airborne bioburden in high-risk hospital environments.
Databáze: OpenAIRE