Air contamination of an intensive care unit and entry regulations

The use of special clothing and shoes (or plastic covers to be worn over th e shoes) is a common ritual for visitors of patients in intensive care unit s (ICU), To assess if this practice influences the contamination of the amb ient air, microorganisms and particles in the air were collected at particu lar intervals on an ICU, For 15 days all visitors and people who did not wo rk in the ICU continuously had to put on special ICU-clothing and shoes, du ring the next 15 days they were allowed to enter the ICU in their regular c lothing. We found increased counts of particles in the air were detected when all pe rsons entering the ICU had to put on the protective clothing, which may be due to the release of particles from the cotton material of the ICU-clothin g. The microbial contamination of the air remained unchanged, As a result it has become evident, that it is not necessary for people visi ting ICU patients to put on special ICU-clothing or shoes unless the patien ts suffer from a transmissible infectious disease or are highly immunosuppr essed, In contrast, hand disinfection and usage of face masks in case of ac ute respiratory disease are recommended, In addition, coats should be take off and shoes changed if they are visibly dirty.