OPEN-AIR TREATMENT FOR WOUNDS: A Simple and Inexpensive Form of Open-Air Ward, as used at the V.A.D. Hospital, Henley-in-Arden

We, Nelson

doi:10.1136/bmj.2.2852.324

Cited by 2 publications

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“…The practice proved so successful that special wards were designed for the open-air treatment of infected wounds and for the general infections that often accompanied them [37,38]. Also, during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, patients nursed outdoors are reported to have recovered in greater numbers than those in hospital wards [39].…”

Section: The First World War Influenza and Nuclear Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Old Defence Against New Infections: The Open-Air Factor and COVID-19

Hobday¹,

Collignon²

2022

Cureus

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Outdoors, the risks of transmission of COVID-19 and many other respiratory infections are low. Several environmental factors are known to reduce the viability of viruses and other infectious pathogens in the air. They include variations in temperature, relative humidity, solar ultraviolet radiation, and dilution effects. But one agent that reduces the viability of both viruses and bacteria outdoors, the germicidal open-air factor (OAF), has not been properly recognized for decades. This is despite robust evidence that the OAF can influence both the survival of airborne pathogens and the course of infections.The germicidal effects of outdoor air were widely exploited during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Firstly, in the treatment of tuberculosis patients who underwent 'open-air therapy' in sanatoria; and secondly by military surgeons during the First World War. They used the same open-air regimen in specially designed hospital wards to disinfect and heal severe wounds among injured soldiers. It was also used on influenza patients during the 1918-19 pandemic. Later, in the 1950s, open-air disinfection and treatment of burns were proposed in the event of nuclear warfare. During the 1960s, the OAF briefly returned to prominence when biodefence scientists conducted experiments proving that open air has a potent germicidal effect. When this work ended in the 1970s, interest in the OAF again fell away, and it remains largely ignored.The COVID-19 pandemic has revived interest in understanding the transmission dynamics and survival of viruses in the air. The pandemic has also stimulated research in the science and practice of improved ventilation to control respiratory infections. Such work is incomplete without an appreciation of the inactivation of viruses and other pathogens by the OAF, but this needs further investigation as a matter of urgency. Research to better understand the conditions under which the OAF can be preserved indoors is urgently needed. We need to review building design with better regard to infection control and patient recovery. But we need to act without delay, as there is already sufficient evidence to show that public health generally would improve if more emphasis was placed on increased exposure to outdoor air.

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Section: The First World War Influenza and Nuclear Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Old Defence Against New Infections: The Open-Air Factor and COVID-19

Hobday¹,

Collignon²

2022

Cureus

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“…Very little additional work related to the OAF has been performed since the 1970s (Hobday, 2019). A few recent studies have attempted to generate the OAF to act against aerosolised microbes in the context of food preserva-tion (Bailey et al, 2007;Nicholas et al, 2013) without providing new insight into the identity of the active agent.…”

Section: The History Of the Open-air Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

Opinion: The germicidal effect of ambient air (open-air factor) revisited

et al. 2021

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Abstract. The term open-air factor (OAF) was coined following microbiological research in the 1960s and 1970s which established that rural air had powerful germicidal properties and attributed this to Criegee intermediates formed in the reaction of ozone with alkenes. We have re-evaluated those early experiments applying the current state of knowledge of ozone–alkene reactions. Contrary to previous speculation, neither Criegee intermediates nor the HO radicals formed in their decomposition are directly responsible for the germicidal activity attributed to the OAF. We identify other potential candidates, which are formed in ozone–alkene reactions and have known (and likely) germicidal properties, but the compounds responsible for the OAF remain a mystery. There has been very little research into the OAF since the 1970s, and this effect seems to have been largely forgotten. In this opinion piece we remind the community of the germicidal open-air factor. Given the current global pandemic spread by an airborne pathogen, understanding the natural germicidal effects of ambient air, solving the mystery of the open-air factor and determining how this effect can be used to improve human welfare should be a high priority for the atmospheric science community.

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OPEN-AIR TREATMENT FOR WOUNDS: A Simple and Inexpensive Form of Open-Air Ward, as used at the V.A.D. Hospital, Henley-in-Arden

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

An Old Defence Against New Infections: The Open-Air Factor and COVID-19

An Old Defence Against New Infections: The Open-Air Factor and COVID-19

Opinion: The germicidal effect of ambient air (open-air factor) revisited

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