The Impact of Hospital-Ward Ventilation on Airborne-Pathogen Exposure
Nicola Mingotti, Dorothy Grogono, Gennaro dello Ioio, Martin D. Curran, Kathryn Barbour, Marlene Taveira, Josie Rudman, Charles Haworth, R. Andrés Floto, Andrew W. Woods
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the importance of protecting patients and healthcare workers (HCW) from nosocomial infection1. Hospital-associated infection can occur through contact with contaminated surfaces, by droplets generated by coughing or sneezing settling on exposed mucous membranes, or through direct inhalation of aerosols. Whilst the contribution of each route differs according to the setting and type of infection, the ventilation within hospitals are a key determinant of infection risk from airborne pathogens2,3, with low ventilation rates associated with increased risks of transmission of, for example, tuberculosis and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) 4,5. For patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), acquisition of multidrug-resistant pathogens from other patients represents one of the greatest threats to health6, with both experimental data7 and room sampling8 highlighting the risk of cross infection through long-lived infectious aerosols.