Air pollution in the operating room: A case study of characteristics of airborne particles, PAHs and environmentally persistent free radicals

Airborne influenza virus shedding by patients in health care units: Removal mechanisms affecting virus transmission

“…Indoor air quality (IAQ) is associated with serious health implications, with some facilities, such as hospitals, being more critical than others particularly in the presence of vulnerable patients. Physical and chemical characterization of IAQ in hospitals have been widely reported [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] with recent efforts targeting bioaerosols, especially viruses [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] such as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A/B that are the main causes of respiratory infections requiring hospitalization [17,18]. Influenza virus can spread indirectly through contact with contaminated surfaces or via respiratory droplets and aerosols, particularly in crowded areas [17,[19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…Despite earlier efforts and until recently, many of these studies fell short of defining clear statistical relationships between changes to the concentration of the influenza virus (or other microorganisms) in patient rooms as a function of physical determinants (such as T, RH, AER) and the location of the patient in the room [52]. With regards to the transport of the influenza viruses (or other microorganisms) from a patient, most of the research has been theoretical and consideration for the understanding of the effects of T or RH on the transmission routes remains limited [8,39,57]. Recent concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed the experimental and modeling envelope further, with a plethora of new modeling applications (both statistical and numerical) [39,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65].…”