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U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0
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s the COVID-19 pandemic continues, surgi-
cal facilities are grappling with the chal-
lenge of ensuring patients and staff don't
contract the virus in their facilities. That's led to a
lot of talk about surface disinfection, which is
extremely important. But what about the place in
which the aerosolized virus resides before it lands
on a surface? What about the air itself? You need
that to be clean, too. Like surface disinfection, the
cleanliness of your facility's air is all about risk miti-
gation. It's something you should constantly moni-
tor. Here's what you need to keep an eye on.
• Relative humidity. For me, this is by far the
most important aspect of preventing COVID-19, as
well as surgical site infections (SSIs). The magical
relative humidity zone for your entire building —
the ORs, PACU, the lobby, the waiting room, the
offices, you name it — is 40% to 60%. In terms of
human health, we do best in that range. Why? Take
the microbiome of your gut. We couldn't live with-
out all those "good" organisms that reside in our
body. It turns out that "good" microbes are most
abundant, and "bad" ones — the pathogens — are
least infectious in that midrange humidity zone.
How Clean Is Your OR Air?
COVID-19 increases the importance of addressing airborne pathogens.
Infection Prevention
Stephanie Taylor, MD, M. Arch, CIC
BREATHE EASY In the fight against COVID-19 and SSIs, making sure clean air circulates through ORs is just as important as robust surface disinfection.