Preventive medicine during hospital construction works

Carrying out renovation or construction work in a functioning hospital is an extremely complex and high-risk undertaking.

Beyond the inconvenience caused by noise or the rearrangement of spaces, the main threat lies in the dust generated. This dust is not mere dirt; it is a potent vector for the transmission of pathogens, particularly fungal spores such as Aspergillus, a microorganism ubiquitous in the outdoor environment that can be lethal to patients with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients, transplant recipients or those in the ICU.

When demolition, excavation or any activity involving the disturbance of building materials takes place, millions of particles and spores that had been lying dormant are released into the air. If these particles are not effectively contained, they can spread rapidly throughout the hospital via air currents or air conditioning systems, reaching the most sensitive areas and causing outbreaks of invasive aspergillosis and other fungal infections with very high mortality rates. Prevention, in this context, is a matter of life and death.

To mitigate this risk, hospital Preventive Medicine departments must implement a rigorous action protocol before, during and after construction work.

This includes the installation of airtight physical barriers to completely isolate the work area, the creation of negative air pressure to prevent dust from escaping and, crucially, an air quality monitoring programme.

The use of real-time particle monitors in areas adjacent to the construction site allows the effectiveness of containment measures to be verified. If particle levels exceed safety thresholds, alarms are triggered immediately, enabling corrective action to be taken before the health of the most vulnerable patients is put at risk.

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