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Indoor and Built Environment
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Static Electric Fields as a Mediator of Hospital Infection

Janet E. Allen

Julie J. Close

Denis L. Henshaw

H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol

Static electric charge at the surface of nurses’ plastic aprons was examined as a possible contributor to hospital infections in a bone marrow transplant ward. Transplant patients undergo high-dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy which compromises the immune system, rendering these patients highly susceptible to infecting organisms. Results of this pilot study showed that the velocity of a bacterium in air close to the apron surface was sufficient for swift attraction onto the surface. In addition, an electric field may be induced around the patient by the presence of the plastic apron, attracting airborne bacteria directly onto the patient. Tests showed that the polyethylene plastic aprons attracted about 83% more bacteria onto their surfaces during wear, compared with only 17% more acquired by aluminium foil aprons. We suggest that these results implicate static charge on aprons as a mediator of hospital infection.

Key Words: Static charge • Charge decay times • Static electric fields • Electrical potential • Hospital infection • Plastic aprons

Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 15, No. 1, 49-52 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X06061502
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