Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39392557›Full record

ReviewGeroScience2025

Creating respiratory pathogen-free environments in healthcare and nursing-care settings: a comprehensive review.

Attila Nagy, Aladár Czitrovszky, Andrea Lehoczki, Árpád Farkas, Péter Füri, János Osán, Veronika Groma, Szilvia Kugler, Adrienn Micsinai, Alpár Horváth and 2 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in GeroScience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Attila NagyDepartment of Applied and Nonlinear Optics, HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Konkoly-Thege Miklós St. 29-33, 1121, Budapest, Hungary. nagy.attila@wigner.hun-ren.hu.ORCID 0000-0003-4595-3625
Aladár CzitrovszkyDepartment of Applied and Nonlinear Optics, HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Konkoly-Thege Miklós St. 29-33, 1121, Budapest, Hungary.
Andrea LehoczkiDoctoral College, Health Sciences Program, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Árpád FarkasEnvironmental Physics Department, HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary.
Péter FüriEnvironmental Physics Department, HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary.
János OsánEnvironmental Physics Department, HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary.
Veronika GromaEnvironmental Physics Department, HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary.
Szilvia KuglerEnvironmental Physics Department, HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary.
Adrienn MicsinaiEurofins BIOMI Ltd, Gödöllő, Hungary.
Alpár HorváthDepartment of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Zoltán UngváriVascular Cognitive Impairment and Neurodegeneration Program, Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 731042, USA.
Veronika MüllerDepartment of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hospital- and nursing-care-acquired infections are a growing problem worldwide, especially during epidemics, posing a significant threat to older adults in geriatric settings. Intense research during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the prominent role of aerosol transmission of pathogens. Aerosol particles can easily adsorb different airborne pathogens, carrying them for a long time. Understanding the dynamics of airborne pathogen transmission is essential for controlling the spread of many well-known pathogens, like the influenza virus, and emerging ones like SARS-CoV-2. Particles smaller than 50 to 100 µm remain airborne and significantly contribute to pathogen transmission. This review explores the journey of pathogen-carrying particles from formation in the airways, through airborne travel, to deposition in the lungs. The physicochemical properties of emitted particles depend on health status and emission modes, such as breathing, speaking, singing, coughing, sneezing, playing wind instruments, and medical interventions. After emission, sedimentation and evaporation primarily determine particle fate. Lung deposition of inhaled aerosol particles can be studied through in vivo, in vitro, or in silico methods. We discuss several numerical lung models, such as the Human Respiratory Tract Model, the LUng Dose Evaluation Program software (LUDEP), the Stochastic Lung Model, and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques, and real-time or post-evaluation methods for detecting and characterizing these particles. Various air purification methods, particularly filtration, are reviewed for their effectiveness in healthcare settings. In the discussion, we analyze how this knowledge can help create environments with reduced PM2.5 and pathogen levels, enhancing safety in healthcare and nursing-care settings. This is particularly crucial for protecting older adults, who are more vulnerable to infections due to weaker immune systems and the higher prevalence of chronic conditions. By implementing effective airborne pathogen control measures, we can significantly improve health outcomes in geriatric settings.

Indexed as

Cross InfectionPandemicsAerosolsAgedCOVID-19HumansNursing HomesSARS-CoV-2AerosolsAir filtrationAirway depositionBioaerosolDropletsExhaled particlesSamplingVirus-containing aerosol particles

Identifiers

PMID39392557
PMCPMC11872867

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.