Infections in hospitals can be brought down by keeping them less sterile as compared to what they are now, Dr Jack Gilbert, head of an international project to categorise all known bugs, said.
He added that more harm than good might be happening in sterile conditions in wards and operating theatres as organisms that help in keeping away dangerous microbes might not be present in such places.
The number of good bacteria can increase if windows are kept open and allowing fresh air to come inside. This also keeps bug population that is harmful under check.
Dr Gilbert said, “There's a good bacterial community living in hospitals and if you try to wipe out that good bacterial community with sterilisation agents and excessive antibiotic use you actually lay waste to this green field of protective layer. Then these bad bacteria can just jump in and start causing hospital borne infections.”
In 1860, Florence Nightingale had written in ‘Notes on nursing’ how important it is to keep windows open to let in some fresh breeze for the patients.
Dr Gilbert said that she had just given an advice without thinking about microbiology etc but her advice can hold true in the cases of hospitals being infected again and again.