Containment testing of isolation rooms

Results from the tracer containment testing of four ‘state-of-the-art’ airborne infection isolation rooms, in a new hospital, are presented. A testing technician exited an isolation room several minutes after a small quantity of tracer gas was injected over the patient bed in that room. Easily measu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of hospital infection 2004-07, Vol.57 (3), p.228-232
Main Authors: Rydock, J.P, Eian, P.K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosols
Air Microbiology - standards
Air Movements
Airborne infection
Biological and medical sciences
Containment of Biohazards - standards
Cross Infection - prevention & control
Environment, Controlled
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Epidemiology. Vaccinations
Evidence-Based Medicine
General aspects
Guidelines as Topic
Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models
Humans
Infection Control - standards
Infectious diseases
Interior Design and Furnishings - standards
Medical sciences
Patient Isolation - standards
Patients' Rooms - standards
Performance testing
Sulfur Hexafluoride
Tracer
Ventilation - standards
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Summary:Results from the tracer containment testing of four ‘state-of-the-art’ airborne infection isolation rooms, in a new hospital, are presented. A testing technician exited an isolation room several minutes after a small quantity of tracer gas was injected over the patient bed in that room. Easily measurable tracer gas concentrations were then found in the anterooms outside the patient rooms and corridor outside the isolation room suites. Containment factors for the isolation rooms and dilution factors in the anterooms and corridor were calculated, based on the measured tracer concentrations. These results indicate the desirability of evidence-based design standards and guidelines for assessing performance of airborne infection isolation rooms. The study also demonstrates that the tracer testing procedure yields comparable results for equivalent isolation room suites, suggesting good reproducibility of the testing method.
ISSN:0195-6701
1532-2939
DOI:10.1016/j.jhin.2004.01.032