How often do you see open windows in hospitals? Hardly ever, right? As reported by BBC News, opening those grimy windows could decrease risk of infection fourfold:
Keeping the windows open on traditional NHS wards can dramatically reduce the risk of infection, say researchers.
The University of Leeds study suggests closing windows, for example to cut heating bills, increases the risk of infection fourfold.
The researchers used experiments and computer modelling to map the passage of air and germs through wards.
They say fitting household extractor fans to windows could maintain sufficient air flow in winter.
The study looked at air flow in traditional “Nightingale wards”, built as open wards of around 30 beds with opening windows and named after Florence Nightingale, who set out the principles of ward design in the 19th Century.
Balloons filled with carbon dioxide – to represent an airborne pathogen – were popped and the gas followed throughout the ward using tracer devices.
While this pill would be an amazing achievement helping to reduce the spread of HIV, even the volunteers in the trial couldn’t remember to take it everyday. The best prevention of HIV is the knowledge of how it is transmitted and how ways to prevent it. From 