A Sanitation Argument for Clean Indoor Air: Meeting a Requisite for Safe Public Spaces

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Anthony Joseph Leonardi¹  Asit Kumar Mishra² 

[1] Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University;MaREI Centre, Ryan Institute & School of Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway

关键词: airborne;    SARS—CoV–2;    aerosol;    HVAC;    HEPA;    sanitation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2022.805780

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

In public health terms, “sanitation” refers to a public health implementation of hygienic standards and practices meant to address transmissible diseases like Malaria and Cholera in industrial and public settings like factories, schools, and resorts (1). We propose the management of air given the current pandemic with an airborne pathogen (2). Sanitation has had a stable history as a primary focus in the field of public health engineering, responsible for potable water, waste management, and control of mosquito breeding-grounds (1, 3). Since addressed by a sanitation approach, the effective handling of vector media has made outbreaks and epidemics like the cholera outbreak of 1,911 in New York City unrepeated in the USA (1). However, rarely have pathogens been met with mitigations and public health sanitation measures considering airborne transmission, save for sanitariums and open-air schools for Tuberculosis and the “Fresh Air” movement during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, which were both caused by pathogens spreading by aerosols (4–6). In such a rare, but notable example in 1918, an open-air hospital in Boston was retrospectively found to benefit the staff by reducing Influenza infection (7). Given our current pandemic, we believe such ventilation measures should be readopted and the air should be sanitized.

【 授权许可】

CC BY