SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Open Hospital Windows to Combat Infections, Says Microbiologist
from the Guardian (UK)
Hospitals might thwart the spread of dangerous infections by taking a tip from Florence
Nightingale and throwing open their windows. But while the Victorian nurse championed fresh air
and cleanliness as a defence against infections, the incoming air might help control nasty
pathogens by letting more microbes inside.
Jack Gilbert, a microbiologist at the US government's Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois,
offers the unconventional view that unwanted microbes might gain a foothold in hospitals because
they had too little competition from other organisms.
The idea mirrors that seen in the gut, where antibiotics can kill off the balanced and healthy
community of bacteria, only to make way for hardier bugs that cause illness.
Read more...
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