How Many Airborne Particles Emitted from a Nurse will Reach the Breathing Zone/Body Surface of the Patient in ISO Class-5 Single-Bed Hospital Protective Environments?—A Numerical Analysis

We conducted a numerical simulation to quantify the number of particles emitted from a nurse that will enter the breathing zone or reach the body surface of a patient during patient care in an ISO Class-5 single-bed protective environment. Nurses may be the most likely source of infection for patients in this environment as they are typically single-bed rooms and visitors are forbidden. Four scenarios representing common nurse–patient interactions in a hospital protective environment were analyzed: a nurse standing next to a reclining patient; a nurse leaning over a reclining patient; a nurse standing next to an upright sitting patient and a nurse learning over an upright sitting patient. We applied computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to solve the governing equations of air flow, energy, and dispersion of different-sized airborne particles. We also carried out full-scale measurements in a hospital-based ISO Class-5 protective environment to validate simulations and determine the probability that pa...