Open hospital windows to stem spread of infections, says microbiologist | Science | The Guardian:
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Hospitals might thwart the spread of dangerous infections by taking a tip from Florence Nightingale and throwing open their windows. But while the Victorian nurse championed fresh air and cleanliness as a defence against infections, the incoming air might help control nasty pathogens by letting more microbes inside.
Jack Gilbert, a microbiologist at the US government's Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, offers the unconventional view that unwanted microbes might gain a foothold in hospitals because they had too little competition from other organisms.
The idea mirrors that seen in the gut, where antibiotics can kill off the balanced and healthy community of bacteria, only to make way for hardier bugs that cause illness.
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