Quantifying the reduction of airborne infectious viral load using a ventilated patient hood

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers treating SARS-CoV-2 patients are at risk of infection by respiratory exposure to patient-emitted, virus-laden aerosols. Source control devices such as ventilated patient isolation hoods have been shown to limit the dissemination of non-infectious airborne particles in laboratory tests, but data on their performance in mitigating the airborne transmission risk of infectious viruses are lacking. Aim: We used an infectious airborne virus to quantify the ability of a ventilated hood to reduce infectious virus exposure in indoor environments. Methods: We nebulized 109 plaque forming units (pfu) of bacteriophage PhiX174 virus into a ∼30-m3 room when the hood was acti..