NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search

Airborne infection isolation rooms - a review of experimental studies.

Hyttinen M; Rautio A; Pasanen P; Reponen T; Earnest GS; Streifel A; Kalliokoski P

Indoor Built Environ 2011 Dec; 20(6):584-594

https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X11409452

20040095

Ventilation guidelines for airborne infection isolation rooms (AIIRs) are highly variable in different countries indicating lack of actual knowledge about the guidance needed. However, US guidelines for AIIRs are extensive and have been widely adopted outside the US. AIIR performance has also been evaluated in numerous studies. For a long time, the aim has mainly been to evaluate how well the existing AIIRs meet US guidelines. For historical reasons, mixing-type ventilation has been emphasised and attention has been paid to air exchange rates, although the use of auxiliary devices, such as portable room-air cleaners and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation systems, has also been examined. Recently, the scope of the investigations has been widened. The most crucial issue is to minimise the potential for disease transmission and prevent the escape of contaminated air from the AIIR. Airflow direction inside the AIIR is also important and AIIRs minimise air leakage to save energy. On the other hand, it has been observed that efficient containment can be achieved even by using simple and inexpensive construction by considering pressure differential and air flow patterns. Nevertheless, additional research is needed to assist hospitals with improving their preparedness to cope with the threat of pandemics by building and using effective AIIRs.

Clean-rooms; Ventilation; Ventilation-systems; Infection-control; Medical-facilities; Air-contamination; Air-purification; Air-quality-control; Disease-control; Disease-transmission; Disease-prevention; Air-flow; Air-pressure; Hospital-equipment; Health-care-facilities; Health-protection; Engineering-controls; Controlled-environment; Air-treatment-equipment; Irradiation; Germicides; Author Keywords: Isolation room; Airborne infection; Ventilation strategies

Marko Hyttinen, Department of Environmental Science, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211, Kuopio, Finland

IBENFP

20111201

Journal Article

marko.hyttinen@uef.fi

2012

B01182012

6

1420-326X

DART

Indoor and Built Environment

OH; MN