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Natasha McDowell has repeatedly transmitted an immobile infection in the intensive care unit, eliminating it by installing a negative air ion generator.
In the first such epidemiology study, the researchers found that the infection rate fell to zero in a year-long trial.
Clive Berg, an engineer at the University of Leeds in the UK, told the New Scientist: "We were very surprised to find such a clear result . ".
Stephen Dean, consultant for the trial at St. James Hospital in Leeds, said & Cologne;
"The result was so great-that we asked the university to leave the ion generator to us.
"Ion generators produce negative air ions that collide with suspended particles and charge them.
The scientists believe that charged particles gather together and fall off the air, thus disinfecting the atmosphere and preventing the spread of infection.
"We don't fully understand how it works, but we suspect it will destroy or kill bacteria," said Bezos . ".
"But if the ion generator cleans the air in this way, we expect to find more precipitation of immobile bacteria on the surface, which is exactly what we found.
"It is often difficult to treat an infection of immobile, because the bacteria are resistant to many antibiotics.
It has no real threat to healthy humans, but can cause serious infections to people with weak immune systems.
"Ion generators can be a powerful weapon against hospital infections," said Kevin Kerr, a clinical microbiology from another team member . ".
"People have been focusing on getting doctors and nurses to wash their hands without looking at anything else.
"It is estimated that some of the infections in public hospitals in the UK are air-borne, but Kerr said it could be higher because of the inefficiency of traditional air-borne bacterial sampling methods.
However, he added that although the results are very promising, further research is needed because of the often cyclical nature of the infection.
"They may not see it for a few weeks or months, and then you will see a bunch of infections," he said . ".
The team is currently working on more lab research to determine if there are other creatures to target.
TB is a promising goal.
Brian Durden, service director of the UK public health laboratory, was encouraged by the results.
"This is not the whole answer, because many infections are transmitted through touch, but this may be a supplement to the fight against hospital infection weapons," he told New Scientist . ".
Research by Sharp Electronics has shown that positive and negative ions generated by their air conditioning systems can invalidate viruses, including influenza.
But the new study is the first to link this effect to reducing hospital infections.