A review of the indoor air quality of hospitals and healthcare centres

Abstract

The elderly are more vulnerable to adverse environmental conditions, and as the population of the developed countries is ageing, they require more medical aid/hospitalisation. Globally, indoor air pollution is considered a health hazard and negatively impacts life expectancy. As patients and healthcare workers spend more time in healthcare centres, the indoor quality of hospitals and other healthcare centres is very crucial. The indoor healthcare settings (hospitals, nursing homes, private health centres, general practitioners' chambers, and elderly care centres) are contaminated with particulate matter, chemical pollutants (VOCs, CO, CO2, ozone, and radon), and microorganisms, which results in the enhancement of hospital-acquired infections (HAI) and the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes. HAIs are posing a grave threat to society and healthcare organisations. The hospital’s indoor air causes more health problems than outdoor air. The indoor air of healthcare centres globally contains Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Kocuria spp., Pantoea spp., bacterial spp., Cladosporium spp., Penicillium spp., Rhodoturola, Aspergillus spp., Basidiomycota, yeast, Alternaria spp., and Eurotium fungal genera. The bacterial genera Staphylococcus spp. cause more deaths than the deaths caused by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis, or viral hepatitis. The poor indoor air in health care centres not only causes respiratory illness, microbial infections, acute toxic effects, cancer, and hospital-acquired infections but also helps in developing antibiotic-resistant bacteria and multi-drug-resistant microbes. The present study aims to assess the levels of pollutants and microbial contamination in the indoor air of healthcare facilities.