Large Eddy Simulation of Air Escape through a Hospital Isolation Room Single Hinged Doorway—Validation by Using Tracer Gases and Simulated Smoke Videos

Saarinen, Pekka E.; Kalliomäki, Petri; Tang, Julian W.; Koskela, Hannu

The usage of hospital isolation rooms has been increasing world-wide after the demonstration of the airborne transmission potential of various infectious agents, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] and influenza viruses [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] though for human-to-human airborne transmission of influenza, there has been an ongoing, fierce debate about the proportion of transmission that is truly airborne [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] . Concerns about airborne transmission have even been raised for Ebola virus during the current epidemic in West Africa, even though this virus is normally transmitted via direct contact [19] . It is this heightened awareness of the potential for airborne transmission of various infectious agents, together with the traditionally precautionary approach to infection control that means that patients infected with potentially highly contagious diseases are now being routinely quarantined in negative pressure isolation rooms to prevent further spreading of the disease, to protect patients, staff and visitors.