Prospective survey of indoor fungal contamination in hospital during a period of building construction.
An 18-month survey of indoor fungal contamination was conducted in one haematology unit during a period of construction work. Air was sampled with a portable Air System Impactor and surfaces with contact Sabouraud plates. During this survey the mean concentration of viable fungi in air was 4.2 cfu/m(3) and that for surfaces was 1.7 cfu/plate. At the beginning of construction work, there were increases in airborne fungal spores (from 3.0 to 9.8 cfu/m(3)) in the unit, but concentrations did not exceed 10 cfu/m(3) during the 18-month period. The most frequently recovered airborne fungi were Penicillium spp. (27-38%), Aspergillus spp. (25%) and Bjerkandera adusta, a basidiomycete identified with molecular tools (7-12%). Blastomycetes accounted for more than 50% of the fungal flora on surfaces. Investigating the impact of a new air-treatment system (mobile Plasmair units), there were significant reductions in fungal contamination for the Plasmer -treated rooms, and in these rooms we observed the same level of fungal load whether construction work was in progress or not.
Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Hôpital du Bocage, BP 77908, 21079 Dijon Cedex, France. marc.sautour@u-bourgogne.fr
M
M
Sautour
N
N
Sixt
F
F
Dalle
C
C
L'ollivier
C
C
Calinon
V
V
Fourquenet
C
C
Thibaut
H
H
Jury
I
I
Lafon
S
S
Aho
G
G
Couillault
O
O
Vagner
B
B
Cuisenier
J-P
JP
Besancenot
D
D
Caillot
A
A
Bonnin
D000389:Air Conditioning / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000391:Air Microbiology; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006749:Hospital Design and Construction; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D010362:Patients' Rooms; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014691:Ventilation