Abstract
This article and editor's summary give the impression that the tuberculosis infection rate was actually reduced by opening windows [1]. A careful reading of the article clearly states that while ventilation rates were measured, infection rates were merely calculated using the Wells-Riley equation. This is old news. While it is important to take into account the adequacy of the ventilation rate provided by mechanical ventilation systems, the ventilation rate through open windows is a function of window size, number, and location in a room as modified by indoor–outdoor temperature differences and wind direction and velocity. Not every case will result in the differences observed in the Peruvian hospitals studied. One must be careful not to overgeneralize the results. A new article, “Role of ventilation in airborne transmission of infectious agents in the built environment—A multidisciplinary systematic review” by Yuguo Li et al., is a thorough review of infectious disease transmission and ventilation just published in the February 2007 issue of the journal Indoor Air, the International Journal of Indoor Environment and Health, available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/ina/17/1 [2].
Highlights
Adamson Muula The article by Skene [1] has touched on an important topic in as far as global health research is concerned
A research area in itself may fit more in one color zone, but the participants chosen may move it towards the color zone
Another researcher studying the same research area but different participant groups may be in a different color zone
Summary
Adamson Muula The article by Skene [1] has touched on an important topic in as far as global health research is concerned. It is of interest that Skene’s barometer has research on stored human tissue and observing people in a public place as neither associated with any laws and no requiring ethics oversight. Did the author mean that a researcher intending to video tape (which is by the way observational) in a restaurant not require ethics oversight?
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