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Medical Air
Purifiers: Airborne Infection Control
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Airborne pathogens in health-care
environments pose a particular risk to immuno-compromised patients
who may inhale fungal spores, bacteria and viruses. Airborne
microorganisms can not only complicate recovery from surgery, but
can also lead to life-threatening infections, costing health-care
services hundreds of millions every year.1 The recent
occurrence of the SARS virus has also shown that health-care
personnel can be at risk.
 Hospital-acquired
aspergillosis for example has been recognized increasingly as a
cause of severe illness and high mortality in immuno-compromised
individuals, e.g. patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or organ or
bone marrow transplants. In the light of the marked increase in nosocomial infections over recent years, and the recent occurrence
of the SARS virus, the importance of using high-efficiency air
filtration systems beyond the confines of so-called “critical
areas” (such as operation theatres) has once again been
emphasized. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advise that,
wherever possible, preventive infection control measures should be
implemented to reduce the risk of infections.2,4
Portable HEPA-Systems
can Effectively Reduce the Risk of Infection Transmission.
One such preventive control measure is the filtration of the air
within a patient's room.3 Such devices have shown to
effectively reduce the concentration of sub-micron microorganism
isms to below measurable levels.5 Even tiny airborne
particles such as viruses and bacteria can be removed from the air
with over 99% efficiency by advanced HEPA air cleaning systems.
However, care must be taken over the selection of the appropriate
HEPA systems. The CDC recommends that only HEPA-filters that have
“a demonstrated and documented minimum removal efficiency of
99.97% of particles ≥ 0.3 µm in diameter should be used for
infection control purposes.4 Very few HEPA-systems are
actually certified and guarantee to provide this high-efficiency.
IQAir –
Intelligent mobile HEPA-Filter Systems:
A Swiss group of companies with an experience of 40
years in the field of air filtration has specialized in the
production of high-efficiency filtration systems for the medical
sector. The name of the series of systems is IQAir. It offers a
wide range of mobile and stationary air cleaning systems for a
multitude of hospital applications. The IQAir® Series consists of
several modular filter systems, each optimized
to deal with a different range of airborne contaminants or aiming
to fulfill a specific air hygiene requirement. The IQAir®
Chemisorber for instance has the primary function to filter
aldehydes, while the IQAir® Cleanroom H13 is designed for the
removal of airborne microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, viruses &
spores).
Pressure
Differences Enable the Isolation of Airborne Pathogens
The strategy to filter the air by re-circulating indoor air
through a high-performance filter can be optimized by creating and
maintaining pressure differentials between adjacent rooms.5
IQAir® systems are capable of creating pressure differentials with
the help of special ducting adaptors. As a result, a room can be
equipped with positive or negative pressure within minutes.
The
Application of Positive and Negative Pressure
In the case of immuno-compromised individuals, the patient should
be placed in a room with positive pressure to prevent contaminated
air from entering.6 If a patient carries a contagious
disease (e.g. tuberculosis, SARS) that may be transmitted through
the air, a negative pressure environment should be created to
prevent spreading airborne microorganisms beyond the patient's
room.6
Individually Tested and Certified
To guarantee filtration efficiency and air delivery, the Swiss
manufacturers have taken an uncompromising approach: Each IQAir®
HEPA system is individually tested and certified. For the IQAir®
Cleanroom H13, for example, that means a guaranteed filtration
efficiency greater than 99.97% for particles of ≥ 0.3 µm and a
certified maximum air delivery rate of 400 m3 per hour.
EN1822 Independently Type-Tested
To guarantee absolute filter integrity, IQAir® HEPA filters are
also independently type-tested in accordance with the world’s most
stringent hospital and cleanroom filter test norm (European Norm
EN1822).
Flexible
Point-of-Use Application
Since IQAir® systems work independently and decentralized, each
unit's air delivery and timer program can be adjusted to suit the
requirements of the room where it is located. The portable nature
of the device also permits quick relocation or supplementary
filtration, if needed. The variety of IQAir®
models available,
allows matching the most suitable filtration technology to the
specific indoor air quality problem at hand.
Microchip Calculates When it's Time to
Change Filters
With regard to maintenance and filter change, IQAir® offers
several advanced features. Every model is equipped with its own
microchip-controlled filter life monitor, which calculates the
remaining filter life, taking air pollution load, actual usage and
fan speed into account. When a filter element reaches the end of
its useful life, an LED indicator will light up on the IQAir®´s
control panel, informing staff that it is time to change a
particular filter.
Quick and Safe Filter Replacement
One of the most attractive features of IQAir® systems is the ease
with which filters can be replaced. Whether the system is
wall-mounted or floor-based, a patented system allows quick and
safe access to all filter elements without the need for tools. In
practice this means that the “down-time” of the filtration system,
and consequently the build-up of pathogens in the room, are kept
to an absolute minimum.
High Performance Need not Mean Expensive
In spite of the array of advanced features, the cost of IQAir®
systems is only a fraction of that of centralized air cleaning
systems. As a result, IQAir® systems enable health-care facilities
to add to, or extend airborne hygiene measures to areas and
patients which so far were not within the scope of an advanced
airborne infection control strategy.
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Advantages of
IQAir Systems:
Reliable and Certified Performance
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Individually Tested and
Certified
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Guaranteed HEPA Filtration
Efficiency of up to 99.99%
( Cleanroom H14 ) for airborne particles at ≥ 0.3 µm
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Independently Type-tested in
accordance with EN1822
Guaranteed and certified air flow rate
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Reliable non-stop operation
Decentralized Operation
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Fast and Economic installation
and maintenance
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Rapid expansion of air hygiene
area and short response time to epidemics
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Individually adjustable for
various area of application
Installation within Minutes
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Minimal installation cost and
time expenditure
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Minimum interruption of daily
routine
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No increase of infection risk
as would otherwise be likely with elaborate constructive
measures
Use of Proved Filtration Techniques
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HEPA-Filtration of solid and
liquid particles, aerosols and microorganisms
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Chemisorption for filtration
of chemical substances
Adsorption for filtration of gases and odors
IQAir Accessories
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Medical
Applications Areas for IQair Systems:
Due to their unique adaptability,
reliability and certified filtration efficiency, IQAir systems
cover a broad spectrum of applications in healthcare facilities:
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- Anterooms
- Bone marrow transplant units
- Burn units
- Cleanroom applications
- Computer and data storage areas
- Critical-care facilities
- Dental clinic and Dental labs
- Emergency rooms
- Filtered fresh air ventilation
- Geriatric and elderly care units
- Hematology
- Intensive care units
- Isolation areas (i.e.
TB-isolation)
- Laser surgery fume and odor
control
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- Microbiology labs
- Neonatal intensive care units
- Odor sensitive areas
- Oncology wards
- Operation theatres
- Organ transplant wards
- Pathology theatres
- Pediatric wards
- Pharmacies
- Pulmonary Diseases
- Respiratory sensitivities and
dusty areas
- Sanitary facilities
- Smoking areas
- TB-isolation wards and ante
rooms
- Waiting rooms
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IQAir® systems are in use at many
world-leading health-care and research institutions, including:
Beijing Friendship Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China
Beijing Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, P.R-. China
Blackrock Clinic, County Dublin, Ireland
Cardarelli Hospital, Neaple, Italy
Duke University Medical Center, Durham,NC, USA
German Allergy & Asthma Society, Bonn, Germany
Hollister Research Center (Univ. of California) Santa Barbara, USA
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring,MD, USA
Interfaith Medical Centre (Psychiatric Ward), New York, USA
Kamillianer Krankenhaus (für Allergien),M.-Gladbach, Germany
King’s College Hospital (Histopathology Dept.), London, UK
Lungenliga (Lung Association), Zürich, Switzerland
Merlin Park Regional Hospital (Operation Room), Galway, Ireland
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Boston, USA
National Cancer Institute, Bethesda,Maryland, USA
New York University Downtown Hospital (Burn Ward), NY, USA
Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children (Univ. Coll. Dublin),
Ireland
Long Island College/University Hospital, New York, USA
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, USA
Ospedale Israelitico, Rome, Italy
Ospedali Vitofazzi di Lecce, Lecce, Italy
Pennsylvania State Univ. (Applied Research Center), PA, USA
Rockford Memorial Hospital, Rockford, Illinois, USA
Royal Free & Univ. Coll.Med. School (Oncology), London, UK
St.Vincent Hosp. (Oncology & Liver Transplant), Dublin, Ireland
Sunshine Dental Practice, Diamond Bar, CA, USA
The University Hospital Cincinatti, Ohio, USA
Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen, Edegem, Belgium
University Clinic Bonn, Germany
Univ. Coll. Hosp.Galway (Haematology, Neonatal, Oncology), Irel.
Univ. Coll. Davis, (Primate Research Center), Davis, CA, USA
University Dental Clinic Halle, Germany
University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA
University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Universtiy of Connecticut (Fine Arts Dept.), Storrs, CT, USA
University of Colorado, Denver,Colorado, USA
University of Texas, Austin,TX, USA
Wartburg Kilnik, Eisenach, Germany
Washington Univ. (HHMI, Clinical Sciences), St. Louis,MO, USA
Wayne State University, Detroit,MI, USA
Virga Jesseziekenhuis, Hasselt, Belgium
Zürcher Höhenklink Wald, Zürich, Switzerland |
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Literature
References:
1.
UK National Audit Office, The Management and Control of Hospital
Acquired Infection in Acute NHS Trusts in England, 17th February
2000
2. World Health Organisation, Drug-Resistant Strains of
Tuberculosis Increasing Worldwide. Press Release WHO/19, 24th
March 2000,
3. Nazaroff,W W, Nicas ,M and Miller, S L. 1998. Framework
for evaluating measures to control nosocomial tuberculosis
transmission. Indoor Air.Vol 8 (4), pp. 205-218.
Streifel, A J. 1995.Ventilation design for control of airborne
infectious agents. Infection Control and sterilization Technology.
May, pp.18-22
Streifel, A J. 1996. Controlling Aspergillosis and Legionella in
Hospitals. Indoor Air and Human Health, R B Gammage and B A Berven,
eds. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers
4. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC),
Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis in Health-Care Facilities, October 28th. 1994 / Vol.
43 / No. RR-13
5. Streifel, A J. 1999. Pressure Relationships in Hospital
Critical-Care Facilities. Indoor Air.Vol 5-31
6. Sherertz R J, Belani A, Kramer B S, et al. Impact of air
filtration on nosocomial Aspergillus infections. Am J Med 1987:
83: 709-18
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