Opening windows stops germs

Preventing the spread of disease in a hospital may be as simple as opening a window, an international team of researchers reported Monday.

The low-tech solution could help prevent the spread of airborne infections such as tuberculosis -- and old-fashioned hospitals with high ceilings and big windows may offer the best design for this, they reported.

These worked better than modern “negative pressure” rooms with expensive design aimed at pumping out infected air, the researchers reported in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.

“Opening windows and doors maximizes natural ventilation so that the risk of airborne contagion is much lower than with costly, maintenance-requiring mechanical ventilation systems,” wrote Rod Escombe of Imperial College London and colleagues, who tested the air in eight hospitals in Lima, Peru, for their report.