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Microbial Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities

Author

Listed:
  • Lucia Bonadonna

    (Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Rossella Briancesco

    (Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Anna Maria Coccia

    (Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Pierluigi Meloni

    (Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Giuseppina La Rosa

    (Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Umberto Moscato

    (Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
    Section of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that indoor air quality and contaminated surfaces provide an important potential source for transmission of pathogens in hospitals. Airborne hospital microorganisms are apparently harmless to healthy people. Nevertheless, healthcare settings are characterized by different environmental critical conditions and high infective risk, mainly due to the compromised immunologic conditions of the patients that make them more vulnerable to infections. Thus, spread, survival and persistence of microbial communities are important factors in hospital environments affecting health of inpatients as well as of medical and nursing staff. In this paper, airborne and aerosolized microorganisms and their presence in hospital environments are taken into consideration, and the factors that collectively contribute to defining the infection risk in these facilities are illustrated.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucia Bonadonna & Rossella Briancesco & Anna Maria Coccia & Pierluigi Meloni & Giuseppina La Rosa & Umberto Moscato, 2021. "Microbial Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6226-:d:571436
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Derniza Cozorici & Roxana-Alexandra Măciucă & Costel Stancu & Bianca-Maria Tihăuan & Robert Bogdan Uță & Cosmin Iulian Codrea & Răzvan Matache & Cristian-Emilian Pop & Robert Wolff & Sergiu Fendrihan, 2022. "Microbial Contamination and Survival Rate on Different Types of Banknotes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Francesco Triggiano & Giuseppina Caggiano & Marco Lopuzzo & Giusy Diella & Francesca Apollonio & Fabrizio Fasano & Maria Teresa Montagna, 2022. "No-Touch Automated Disinfection System Based on Hydrogen Peroxide and Ethyl Alcohol Aerosols for Use in Healthcare Environments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-6, April.
    3. Maria Luisa Cristina & Anna Maria Spagnolo & Gianluca Ottria & Elisa Schinca & Chiara Dupont & Alessio Carbone & Martino Oliva & Marina Sartini, 2021. "Microbial Air Monitoring in Turbulent Airflow Operating Theatres: Is It Possible to Calculate and Hypothesize New Benchmarks for Microbial Air Load?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-12, October.

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