Bergeron V, Reboux G, Poirot J L, Laudinet N
Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Lyon, France.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2007 Oct;28(10):1181-6. doi: 10.1086/520733. Epub 2007 Aug 3.
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 as Aspergillus fumigatus.
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 0.5 microm) 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.
In an operating room with a volume of 118 m(3), the time required to lower the concentration of airborne particles larger than 0.5 microm 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 (P<.01). Concurrently, total airborne mesophilic flora concentrations dropped by a factor of 2, and the concentrations of fungal species were reduced to undetectable levels (P<.01). The 12-day test period in the hematology ward revealed a significant reduction in airborne fungus levels (P<.01), with average reductions of 75% for opportunistic species and 82% for nonpathogenic species.
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.
评估一种新型移动空气处理装置的性能，该装置使用非热等离子体反应器来降低医院关键环境中的空气生物负荷，并降低因机会性空气传播病原体（如烟曲霉）导致医院感染的风险。
在两个不同的高风险医院区域进行测试：模拟条件下的手术室和儿科血液科病房中收治患者的房间。手术室测试提供了对空气传播污染物（即大于0.5微米的颗粒）去除率以及空气生物负荷总体降低情况（即每立方米空气中总嗜温菌和真菌菌群的菌落形成单位）的性能评估。在血液科，将配备空气处理装置的患者房间内机会性和非致病性空气传播真菌水平与对照房间进行比较。
在一个体积为118立方米的手术室中，将大于0.5微米的空气传播颗粒浓度降低90%所需的时间，从现有高效空气过滤系统的12分钟减少到测试装置的不到2分钟，此类颗粒的稳态水平降低了2个对数（P<0.01）。同时，空气传播嗜温菌总浓度下降了一半，真菌种类浓度降至检测不到的水平（P<0.01）。血液科病房为期12天的测试显示，空气传播真菌水平显著降低（P<0.01），机会性菌种平均降低75%，非致病性菌种平均降低82%。
我们的数据表明，本研究中测试的移动非热等离子体空气处理装置能够快速降低高风险医院环境中的空气传播颗粒水平，并显著降低空气生物负荷。
