Aerial Dissemination Op Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Two-Year Study of Contagion in a Tuberculosis Ward1

Abstract

The first report of this series, entitled "Air hygiene in tuberculosis," dealt with the preparation of a pilot ward for the performance of quantitative studies of the infectiousness of the air (1). In the second, basic theoretical concepts were elaborated upon and the results of the first few months of operation of the pilot ward with human patients were presented (2). The present paper includes data which greatly amplify and, in minor respects, modify the interpretations and inferences presented in the second paper. Studies of the control of contagion by disinfection of the air have been postponed in order to demonstrate beyond question the fact of aerial dissemination and the probability of its predominant importance in the transmission of pulmonary tuberculosis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNThe experimental unit in which these studies were carried out includes a tuberculosis ward with 6 single rooms, a

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