Modeling of aerosol transmission of airborne pathogens in ICU rooms of COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure.
Sci Rep
; 11(1): 11778, 2021 06 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1258598
Preprint
This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
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This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
See preprint
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated many concerns about cross-contamination risks, particularly in hospital settings and Intensive Care Units (ICU). Virus-laden aerosols produced by infected patients can propagate throughout ventilated rooms and put medical personnel entering them at risk. Experimental results found with a schlieren optical method have shown that the air flows generated by a cough and normal breathing were modified by the oxygenation technique used, especially when using High Flow Nasal Canulae, increasing the shedding of potentially infectious airborne particles. This study also uses a 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics model based on a Lattice Boltzmann Method to simulate the air flows as well as the movement of numerous airborne particles produced by a patient's cough within an ICU room under negative pressure. The effects of different mitigation scenarii on the amount of aerosols potentially containing SARS-CoV-2 that are extracted through the ventilation system are investigated. Numerical results indicate that adequate bed orientation and additional air treatment unit positioning can increase by 40% the number of particles extracted and decrease by 25% the amount of particles deposited on surfaces 45s after shedding. This approach could help lay the grounds for a more comprehensive way to tackle contamination risks in hospitals, as the model can be seen as a proof of concept and be adapted to any room configuration.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Respiratory Distress Syndrome
/
Cough
/
Air Microbiology
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S41598-021-91265-5
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