Higher Humidity in Buildings Can Help Lower Infections
Published December 23, 2019 | Health, Infections
Harvard Medical School graduate and pediatric oncologist Stephanie
Taylor, MD once took care of children with cancer at a teaching
hospital. She wondered why many of her young patients contracted
infections, such as influenza, despite the hospital’s heavy emphasis on
prevention. Taylor began to suspect increased susceptibility to
contracting infections might have something to do with the design
and infrastructure of the building itself.1
Current hospital infection control protocols focus largely on hand washing, instrument disinfection, and surface hygiene, cough etiquette and use of facial masks. These strategies mainly target the interruption of transmission through body contact and exposure to short distance, large-droplet spray. Most infection control strategies do not address the need to immobilize tiny, aerosolized droplets, which can spread infectious microorganisms across significant distances and for extended periods through the air.2
Dr. Taylor and her colleagues decided to conduct a study to investigate the impact of the building environment on human health and infection. She and her colleagues studied 370 patients in one unit of a hospital to try to isolate the factors associated with patient infections. They tested and retested 8 million data points controlling for every variable to explain the likelihood of infection.1
Most factors had an influence; however, one factor stood out the most. The leading factor most associated with infection was dry air. At low relative humidity, indoor air was strongly associated with higher infection rates. According to Taylor:
Reference
and infrastructure of the building itself.1
Current hospital infection control protocols focus largely on hand washing, instrument disinfection, and surface hygiene, cough etiquette and use of facial masks. These strategies mainly target the interruption of transmission through body contact and exposure to short distance, large-droplet spray. Most infection control strategies do not address the need to immobilize tiny, aerosolized droplets, which can spread infectious microorganisms across significant distances and for extended periods through the air.2
Dr. Taylor and her colleagues decided to conduct a study to investigate the impact of the building environment on human health and infection. She and her colleagues studied 370 patients in one unit of a hospital to try to isolate the factors associated with patient infections. They tested and retested 8 million data points controlling for every variable to explain the likelihood of infection.1
Most factors had an influence; however, one factor stood out the most. The leading factor most associated with infection was dry air. At low relative humidity, indoor air was strongly associated with higher infection rates. According to Taylor:
When we dry the air out, droplets and skin flakes carrying viruses and bacteria are launched into the air, traveling far and over long periods of time. The microbes that survive this launching tend to be the ones that cause healthcare-associated infections… Even worse, in addition to this increased exposure to infectious particles, the dry air also harms our natural immune barriers which protect us from infections.1Dr. Taylor explains:
With new genetic analysis tools, we are finding out that most of the microbes are not dead at all. They are simply dormant while waiting for a source of rehydration. Humans are an ideal source of hydration, since we are basically 60% water. When a tiny infectious particle lands on or in a patient, the pathogen rehydrates and begins the infectious cycle all over again.1Taylor’s research demonstrates that ideal humidity for indoor air is between 40 percent and 60 percent relative humidity.1 This new evidence could be important for hospitals and other health care facilities, where at least 10 percent of all patients who enter an inpatient health care facility for treatment will develop a health care-associated infection.2
Reference
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