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The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity

The aerosol route has been a pathway for transmission of many viruses. Similarly, recent evidence has determined aerosol transmission for SARS-CoV-2 to be significant. Consequently, public health officials and professionals have sought data regarding the role of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditi...

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Autores principales: Thornton, Gail M., Fleck, Brian A., Dandnayak, Dhyey, Kroeker, Emily, Zhong, Lexuan, Hartling, Lisa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550073/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36215321
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275654
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author Thornton, Gail M.
Fleck, Brian A.
Dandnayak, Dhyey
Kroeker, Emily
Zhong, Lexuan
Hartling, Lisa
author_facet Thornton, Gail M.
Fleck, Brian A.
Dandnayak, Dhyey
Kroeker, Emily
Zhong, Lexuan
Hartling, Lisa
author_sort Thornton, Gail M.
collection PubMed
description The aerosol route has been a pathway for transmission of many viruses. Similarly, recent evidence has determined aerosol transmission for SARS-CoV-2 to be significant. Consequently, public health officials and professionals have sought data regarding the role of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) features as a means to mitigate transmission of viruses, particularly coronaviruses. Using international standards, a systematic review was conducted to comprehensively identify and synthesize research examining the effect of humidity on transmission of coronaviruses and influenza. The results from 24 relevant studies showed that: increasing from mid (40–60%) to high (>60%) relative humidity (RH) for SARS-CoV-2 was associated with decreased virus survival; although SARS-CoV-2 results appear consistent, coronaviruses do not all behave the same; increasing from low (<40%) to mid RH for influenza was associated with decreased persistence, infectivity, viability, and survival, however effects of increased humidity from mid to high for influenza were not consistent; and medium, temperature, and exposure time were associated with inconsistency in results for both coronaviruses and influenza. Adapting humidity to mitigate virus transmission is complex. When controlling humidity as an HVAC feature, practitioners should take into account virus type and temperature. Future research should also consider the impact of exposure time, temperature, and medium when designing experiments, while also working towards more standardized testing procedures. Clinical trial registration: PROSPERO 2020 CRD42020193968.
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spelling pubmed-95500732022-10-11 The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity Thornton, Gail M. Fleck, Brian A. Dandnayak, Dhyey Kroeker, Emily Zhong, Lexuan Hartling, Lisa PLoS One Research Article The aerosol route has been a pathway for transmission of many viruses. Similarly, recent evidence has determined aerosol transmission for SARS-CoV-2 to be significant. Consequently, public health officials and professionals have sought data regarding the role of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) features as a means to mitigate transmission of viruses, particularly coronaviruses. Using international standards, a systematic review was conducted to comprehensively identify and synthesize research examining the effect of humidity on transmission of coronaviruses and influenza. The results from 24 relevant studies showed that: increasing from mid (40–60%) to high (>60%) relative humidity (RH) for SARS-CoV-2 was associated with decreased virus survival; although SARS-CoV-2 results appear consistent, coronaviruses do not all behave the same; increasing from low (<40%) to mid RH for influenza was associated with decreased persistence, infectivity, viability, and survival, however effects of increased humidity from mid to high for influenza were not consistent; and medium, temperature, and exposure time were associated with inconsistency in results for both coronaviruses and influenza. Adapting humidity to mitigate virus transmission is complex. When controlling humidity as an HVAC feature, practitioners should take into account virus type and temperature. Future research should also consider the impact of exposure time, temperature, and medium when designing experiments, while also working towards more standardized testing procedures. Clinical trial registration: PROSPERO 2020 CRD42020193968. Public Library of Science 2022-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC9550073/ /pubmed/36215321 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275654 Text en © 2022 Thornton et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Thornton, Gail M.
Fleck, Brian A.
Dandnayak, Dhyey
Kroeker, Emily
Zhong, Lexuan
Hartling, Lisa
The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity
title The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity
title_full The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity
title_fullStr The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity
title_full_unstemmed The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity
title_short The impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): A systematic review of humidity
title_sort impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (hvac) design features on the transmission of viruses, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (covid-19): a systematic review of humidity
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550073/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36215321
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275654
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