[ad_1]
Being admitted to the hospital for a specific illness or infection and falling into another during his stay in the hospital is not common, due to the effectiveness of prevention systems but it is not an isolated incident either. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 6% of hospitalized patients contract an infection during their stay in the hospital, which generates a financial impact of 7,000 billion euros for Whole of Europe.
Nosocomial infections, which are hospital-acquired infections that were not the reason the patient was admitted, constitute a real health problem. A research group on machinery and thermal engines of the University of Cordoba recently tested the effectiveness of a displacement ventilation system that reduces airborne infections, such as and measles, tuberculosis and klebsiella, pathogens that can cause serious complications in immunocompromised or poorly immunized patients.
As explained by Professor Manuel Ruiz de Adana, one of the leading authors of the study, more than 90% of hospitals and other buildings use what are called systems of mixing ventilation. These systems push the air in the upper part of the room, which is not where the patient is. Later, this fresh air is mixed with the air of the room and pollutants decrease.
To examine this problem, the research group studied the risk of infection in another type of ventilation system, called forced displacement ventilation, in which air is pushed at low speed into the area where is the patient. The air in the room, exposed to pollutants, is literally "moved" and rises to the top of the room once warmed up. Instead of reducing the amount of pollutants, this system pushes them from one side to the other of the room until they come out through the vents of the room. piece. In this way, there is a flow of clean air, functioning as a piston, in the area where patients and health care workers are.
"We can not control people's prevention habits, but we can control the air they breathe," says Professor Ruiz de Adana. To do this, the group badyzed the potential of this method of ventilation to control airborne infections using thermal manikins equipped with respiratory systems. They performed several experimental tests injecting a pollutant simulating a pathogen into the dummy's lungs as well as at various locations around the room.
After evaluating and measuring various parameters, the study, conducted as part of the TRACER research and development project, concluded that displacement ventilation systems can reduce the risk of exposure to airborne pathogens. compared to other traditional systems. According to Ruiz de Adana, researcher, this is a ventilation mechanism that comes from the Nordic countries, countries where, due to weather conditions, people spend a lot of time indoors. However, "it is not normally used in hospitals and a study of this magnitude and for this specific use has not yet been carried out".
According to the regulations established by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, ventilation systems must freshen all the air of a hospital room 12 times per hour in order to reduce infections transmitted by the # 39; air. With this proposed new ventilation system, based on the data shown by the study, it will only be necessary to freshen the air nine times per hour, without the risk of infection changing, which means that in addition to the health benefits, the system will also reduce energy consumption. use.
Source of the story:
Material provided by University of Cordoba. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.
Source link
