Use of portable air cleaners to reduce aerosol transmission on a hospital coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ward.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To study the airflow, transmission, and clearance of aerosols in the clinical spaces of a hospital ward that had been used to care for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to examine the impact of portable air cleaners on aerosol clearance.

Design

Observational study.

Setting

A single ward of a tertiary-care public hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

Intervention

Glycerin-based aerosol was used as a surrogate for respiratory aerosols. The transmission of aerosols from a single patient room into corridors and a nurses' station in the ward was measured. The rate of clearance of aerosols was measured over time from the patient room, nurses' station and ward corridors with and without air cleaners [ie, portable high-efficiency particulate a

SUBMITTER: Buising KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8314194 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature