Abstract
Indoor microbiological air quality, including airborne bacteria and fungi, is associated with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and emerging as an environmental issue in hospital environment. Many studies have been carried out based on culture-based methods to evaluate bioaerosol level. However, conventional biomonitoring requires laborious process and specialists, and cannot provide data quickly. In order to assess the concentration of bioaerosol in real-time, particles were subdivided according to the aerodynamic diameter for surrogate measurement. Particle number concentration (PNC) and meteorological conditions selected by analyzing the correlation with bioaerosol were included in the prediction model, and the forecast accuracy of each model was evaluated by the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The prediction model for airborne bacteria demonstrated highly accurate prediction (R2 = 0.804, MAPE = 8.5%) from PNC1-3, PNC3-5, and PNC5-10 as independent variables. Meanwhile, the fungal prediction model showed reasonable, but weak, prediction results (R2 = 0.489, MAPE = 42.5%) with PNC3-5, PNC5-10, PNC > 10, and relative humidity. As a result of external verification, even when the model was applied in a similar hospital environment, the bioaerosol concentration could be sufficiently predicted. The prediction model constructed in this study can be used as a pre-assessment method for monitoring microbial contamination in indoor environments.
Highlights
Interest in indoor air quality is rapidly growing as living standards improve and health awareness increases around the world
The lowest bacterial concentration (23 ± 3 CFU/m3 ) was found in GH-C, which had a HEPA filtration-equipped HVAC system meant to maintain a clean environment in the central supply room (CSR)
For GH-C, where bioaerosol levels were measured in the CSR, external validation of the prediction models with data from other hospital environments was not performed because other hospitals would not allow measurements to be taken in the CSR
Summary
Interest in indoor air quality is rapidly growing as living standards improve and health awareness increases around the world. Bioaerosols include metabolites from bacteria, fungi, viruses, and endotoxins These bioaerosols contribute from 5 to 34% of total indoor air pollution, and they are associated with health risks that have various respiratory symptoms, such as decreased pulmonary function, rhinitis, allergic diseases, and asthma [2,3,4,5]. Exposure to airborne microbes may have a more severe effect on people in health-sensitive groups, especially those who are immunocompromised or those who suffer from respiratory and allergic diseases. These at-risk groups account for one-third of the world’s population [6]
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