• Zakir-Hussain Abdul Salam, Rubiyah Binte Karlin, Moi Lin Ling, and Kok Soong Yang.
• Epidemiology Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore. zakir.hussain.abdul.salam@sgh.com.sg
• Am J Infect Control. 2010 May 1; 38 (4): e1-7.

BackgroundWorldwide, the frequency of invasive fungal infections has been increasing, with a corresponding increase in the numbers of high-risk patients. Exposure reduction through the use of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters has been the preferred primary preventive strategy for these high-risk patients. Although the efficiency and benefits of fixed HEPA filters is well proven, the benefits of portable HEPA filters are still inconclusive.MethodsThis was a retrospective study to assess the impact of 48 portable HEPA filter units deployed in selected wards in Singapore General Hospital, an acute tertiary-care hospital in Singapore. Data were extracted between December 2005 and June 2008 on the diagnoses at discharge and microbiological and histological laboratory findings. All patients with possible, probable, or proven invasive aspergillosis (IA) were included.ResultsIn wards with portable HEPA filters, the incidence rate of IA of 34.61/100,000 patient-days in the pre-installation period was reduced to 17.51/100,000 patient-days in the post-installation period (P = .01), for an incidence rate ratio of 1.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-2.97). In wards with no HEPA filters, there was no significant change in the incidence rate during the study period. Portable HEPA filters were associated with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.49 (95% CI, 0.28-0.85; P = .01), adjusted for diagnosis and length of hospital stay.ConclusionsPortable HEPA filters are effective in the prevention of IA. The cost of widespread portable HEPA filtration in hospitals will be more than offset by the decreases in nosocomial infections in general and in IA in particular.Copyright (c) 2010 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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