Comprehensive and live air purification as a key environmental, clinical, and patient safety factor: A prospective evaluation
A peer-reviewed book chapter published in Vignettes in Patient Safety, Volume 4, edited by Stanislaw P. Stawicki and Michael S. Firstenberg (IntechOpen, March 2019). The chapter presents the first comprehensive prospective evaluation of infectious and aerosolized pathogens — including their speciation, location, and concentration — within a typical hospital setting, and examines the relationship between airborne pathogens and air filtration methodologies in the context of the molecular and microbial epidemiology of illness and infection in clinical environments. The study represents foundational environmental evidence from St. Luke’s University Health Network that preceded the full retrospective cohort study published in Surgery in 2020. Published in IntechOpen, March 2019. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.84530. Authors: Stawicki, S.P.; Brisendine, C.; Levicoff, L.; Ford, F.; Snyder, B.; Eid, S.; Worrilow, K.C.