Erschienen in:
01.09.2006 | Correspondence
Air ionisation in an intensive care unit
verfasst von:
David Jeffers
Erschienen in:
Intensive Care Medicine
|
Ausgabe 9/2006
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Excerpt
Sir: The static electrification of plastic materials may have a role to play in the modifications to infection rates described by Kerr et al. [
1]. Allen [
2] tells how bacteria are attracted to the negative charges generated on the plastic aprons worn by nurses working in an intensive care unit and Liu et al. [
3] describe how charges build up when plastic aerosol sampling tubes are bent. Similar static charges could be generated on catheters and other tubes in an intensive care unit and, as Allen describes, these static charges attract bacteria carrying charges of opposite sign. The negative air ions generated in the study by Kerr et al. would neutralise the positive charges on airborne bacteria, thereby reducing their deposition in the respiratory tract [
4]. In addition, the neutralised bacteria would no longer be attracted to the “electrified” tubing and deposition at these sites would also be reduced. …
