Role of mechanical ventilation in the airborne transmission of infectious agents in buildings

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics such as those due to SARS, influenza, measles, tuberculosis, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus have raised concern about the airborne transmission of pathogens in indoor environments. Significant gaps in knowledge still exist regarding the role of mechanical ventilation in airborne pathogen transmission. This review, prepared by a multidisciplinary group of researchers, focuses on summarizing the strengths and limitations of epidemiologic studies that specifically addressed the association of at least one heating, ventilating and/or air‐conditioning ( HVAC) system‐related parameter with airborne disease transmission in buildings. The purpose of this literature review was to assess the quality and quantity of available data and to identify research needs. This review suggests that there is a need for well‐designed observational and intervention studies in buildings with better HVAC system characterization and measurements of both airborne exposures and disease outcomes. Studies should also be designed so that they may be used in future quantitative meta‐analyses.

Related collections

Most cited references 26

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The role of particle size in aerosolised pathogen transmission: A review

Jan Gralton, Euan Tovey, Mary-Louise McLaws … (2010)

Summary Understanding respiratory pathogen transmission is essential for public health measures aimed at reducing pathogen spread. Particle generation and size are key determinant for pathogen carriage, aerosolisation, and transmission. Production of infectious respiratory particles is dependent on the type and frequency of respiratory activity, type and site of infection and pathogen load. Further, relative humidity, particle aggregation and mucus properties influence expelled particle size and subsequent transmission. Review of 26 studies reporting particle sizes generated from breathing, coughing, sneezing and talking showed healthy individuals generate particles between 0.01 and 500 μm, and individuals with infections produce particles between 0.05 and 500 μm. This indicates that expelled particles carrying pathogens do not exclusively disperse by airborne or droplet transmission but avail of both methods simultaneously and current dichotomous infection control precautions should be updated to include measures to contain both modes of aerosolised transmission.

0 comments Cited 283 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Ventilation rates and health: multidisciplinary review of the scientific literature.

J Samet, Charles Weschler, William Nazaroff … (2011)

The scientific literature through 2005 on the effects of ventilation rates on health in indoor environments has been reviewed by a multidisciplinary group. The group judged 27 papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals as providing sufficient information on both ventilation rates and health effects to inform the relationship. Consistency was found across multiple investigations and different epidemiologic designs for different populations. Multiple health endpoints show similar relationships with ventilation rate. There is biological plausibility for an association of health outcomes with ventilation rates, although the literature does not provide clear evidence on particular agent(s) for the effects. Higher ventilation rates in offices, up to about 25 l/s per person, are associated with reduced prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms. The limited available data suggest that inflammation, respiratory infections, asthma symptoms and short-term sick leave increase with lower ventilation rates. Home ventilation rates above 0.5 air changes per hour (h(-1)) have been associated with a reduced risk of allergic manifestations among children in a Nordic climate. The need remains for more studies of the relationship between ventilation rates and health, especially in diverse climates, in locations with polluted outdoor air and in buildings other than offices. Ventilation with outdoor air plays an important role influencing human exposures to indoor pollutants. This review and assessment indicates that increasing ventilation rates above currently adopted standards and guidelines should result in reduced prevalence of negative health outcomes. Building operators and designers should avoid low ventilation rates unless alternative effective measures, such as source control or air cleaning, are employed to limit indoor pollutant levels. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

0 comments Cited 147 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Association of ventilation rates and CO2 concentrations with health and other responses in commercial and institutional buildings.

O. A. Seppanen, W J Fisk, M J Mendell (1999)

This paper reviews current literature on the associations of ventilation rates and carbon dioxide concentrations in non-residential and non-industrial buildings (primarily offices) with health and other human outcomes. Twenty studies, with close to 30,000 subjects, investigated the association of ventilation rates with human responses, and 21 studies, with over 30,000 subjects, investigated the association of carbon dioxide concentration with these responses. Almost all studies found that ventilation rates below 10 Ls-1 per person in all building types were associated with statistically significant worsening in one or more health or perceived air quality outcomes. Some studies determined that increases in ventilation rates above 10 Ls-1 per person, up to approximately 20 Ls-1 per person, were associated with further significant decreases in the prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms or with further significant improvements in perceived air quality. The carbon dioxide studies support these findings. About half of the carbon dioxide studies suggest that the risk of sick building syndrome symptoms continued to decrease significantly with decreasing carbon dioxide concentrations below 800 ppm. The ventilation studies reported relative risks of 1.5-2 for respiratory illnesses and 1.1-6 for sick building syndrome symptoms for low compared to high low ventilation rates.

0 comments Cited 121 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

S. L. Miller: Shelly.Miller@colorado.edu

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Indoor Air

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Indoor Air

Journal ID (doi): 10.1111/(ISSN)1600-0668

Journal ID (publisher-id): INA

Title: Indoor Air

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )

ISSN (Print): 0905-6947

ISSN (Electronic): 1600-0668

Publication date (Electronic): 14 December 2015

Publication date (Print): October 2016

Volume: 26

Issue: 5 ( doiID: 10.1111/ina.2016.26.issue-5 )

Pages: 666-678

Affiliations

[ ¹ ] Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Colorado Boulder CO USA

[ ² ] Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine Emerging Pathogens Institute College of Medicine University of Florida Gainesville FL USA

[ ³ ] Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science Kansas State University Manhattan KS USA

[ ⁴ ] Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering University of Colorado Boulder CO USA

[ ⁵ ] Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Kansas State University Manhattan KS USA

Author notes

[*] [* ] S. L. Miller

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Colorado

427 UCB, Boulder, CO, USA

Tel.: +1 303‐492‐0587

Fax: +1 303‐492‐3498

e‐mail: Shelly.Miller@ 123456colorado.edu

Article

Publisher ID: INA12267

DOI: 10.1111/ina.12267

PMC ID: 7165552

PubMed ID: 26562748

SO-VID: 0690bcfa-0817-4bec-affe-b5d298e42168

License:

This article is being made freely available through PubMed Central as part of the COVID-19 public health emergency response. It can be used for unrestricted research re-use and analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source, for the duration of the public health emergency.

History

Date received : 18 June 2015

Date accepted : 31 October 2015

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 1, Pages: 13, Words: 10520

Funding

Funded by: ASHRAE , open-funder-registry 10.13039/100008756;

Custom metadata

source-schema-version-number 2.0

cover-date October 2016

details-of-publishers-convertor Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:5.8.0 mode:remove_FC converted:15.04.2020

ScienceOpen disciplines: Health & Social care

Keywords: ventilation systems,epidemiology,ventilation rates,airborne diseases,airborne pathogen transmission,heating,ventilating and/or air‐conditioning

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Health & Social care

Keywords: ventilation systems, epidemiology, ventilation rates, airborne diseases, airborne pathogen transmission, heating, ventilating and/or air‐conditioning

Role of mechanical ventilation in the airborne transmission of infectious agents in buildings

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

International Journal of Applied Technology in Medical Sciences

Most cited references 26

The role of particle size in aerosolised pathogen transmission: A review

Ventilation rates and health: multidisciplinary review of the scientific literature.

Association of ventilation rates and CO2 concentrations with health and other responses in commercial and institutional buildings.

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Page count

Funding

Categories

Custom metadata

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 270

Cited by 48

Most referenced authors 433