Laboratory evaluation of a filter for the control of cross-infection during pulmonary function testing

Kirk, Y. L., Kendall, K., Ashworth, H. A. and Hunter, P. R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5608-6144 (1992) Laboratory evaluation of a filter for the control of cross-infection during pulmonary function testing. Journal of Hospital Infection, 20 (3). pp. 193-198. ISSN 0195-6701

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Abstract

Nosocomial transmission of respiratory pathogens is a possible complication of lung function testing. The use of a filter, placed between the patient and the spirometer equipment may be one way of preventing such nosocomial spread. This paper reports the laboratory evaluation of the efficiency of such a filter at removing bacteria from exhaled breath. Volunteers exhaled 100 normal breaths or four forced exhalations through a filter on to a blood agar plate. Bacterial counts on the agar plate were compared with recoverable bacterial counts from the filter. Total challenge from the forced exhalations ranged from 161–84,200 colony forming units. The calculated efficiency of 10 volunteers was 99·9%. For the normal breaths the challenge ranged from 0–262 000 colony forming units. There was no growth on any of the blood-agar plates. These filters appear to be highly efficient at removing exhaled bacteria.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023)
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Population Health
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 28 Feb 2022 12:30
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2023 03:16
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/83757
DOI: 10.1016/0195-6701(92)90087-3

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