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In recent years, there has been an ongoing discussion about the value of laminar airflow (LAF=low turbulence displacement ventilation) in the operating room for prevention of surgical site infections (SSI). Some publications, e.g., from the WHO, issued the demand to no longer build LAF ceilings in operating rooms. The present statement deals critically with this position and justifies the use of LAF ceilings in different ways:Thus, this paper recommends building LAF ceilings in the future as well, depending on the operations intended.Further, this paper gives an overview of possible reasons for surgical site infections and highlights the importance of discipline in the operating theatre.

Since the publication of the first “Hospital Hygiene Guideline for the implementation and operation of air conditioning systems (HVAC systems) in hospitals” () in 2002, it was necessary due to the increase in knowledge, new regulations, improved air-conditioning systems and advanced test methods to revise the guideline. Based on the description of the basic features of ventilation concepts, its hygienic test and the usage-based requirements for ventilation, the DGKH section “Ventilation and air conditioning technology” attempts to provide answers for the major air quality issues in the planning, design and the hygienically safe operation of HVAC systems in rooms of health care.

Abstract: Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) can affect neurobehavioral development of infants and children. This effect may be mediated through disruption of thyroid hormone homeostasis. However, epidemiological studies reveal no consistent influence of PCDD/Fs and PCBs on thyroid status and neurodevelopment at environmental background levels. The effects may resolve with time of further decreasing exposure to these compounds. The aim of this study was to find out if there are still effects related to prenatal PCDD/F and PCB observable at the meanwhile decreased levels of exposure by using the same methods which have been applied in similar studies during the last 10 years in Europe. The birth cohort study was initiated in the year 2000 in the industrialized city of Duisburg, Germany. 232 healthy mother–infant pairs were recruited between 2000 and 2002. Dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and six indicator PCBs were analyzed in maternal blood during pregnancy and in maternal milk following extraction and sample clean-up by HRGC/HRMS. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), total thyroxine (T4), total triiodothyronine (T3), free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) were measured in serum samples of the pregnant women and in cord serum samples by chemiluminescent immunometric assay. Neurological examinations were performed at ages 2 weeks and 18 months using the neurological optimality score (NOS), mental and motor development were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) at ages 12 and 24 months. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to describe the association of PCDD/F and PCB in maternal blood or milk with the outcome measurements after adjustment for confounding. Blood levels (n =182) of WHO 2005 toxic equivalents (TEQ) (PCDD/F+PCB) were in the range of 3.8–58.4pg/glipid base (median: 19.3pg/glipid base). The corresponding data for human milk (n =149) were 2.6–52.4pg/glipid base (median: 19.7pg/glipid base). Multiple regression analysis showed no decrease of thyroid hormones related to WHO 2005 TEQ in blood and milk of mothers and their newborns. Furthermore, no associations between exposure and neurological and developmental measures were observed. This study supports the view that the current decreased exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs does not impair thyroid function of newborns and neurodevelopment of infants until the age of 24 months. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]