Credit score: Unsplash/CC0 Public Area
Faculty is in session, and viral sickness is on the rise. A brand new research means that reducing publicity to respiratory viruses in lecture rooms is not so simple as including high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifiers to the room.
In a secondary evaluation of a randomized scientific trial, investigators from Mass Normal Brigham and their colleagues discovered that publicity to respiratory viruses within the air was excessive, even in lecture rooms with HEPA purifiers.
Their outcomes are revealed in JAMA Community Open.
“We found that air samples from classrooms included in our study had an average of three different respiratory viruses per classroom, with some having as many as 13, including pathogens capable of causing serious disease such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza virus,” stated corresponding creator Peggy S. Lai, MD, MPH, a doctor scientist within the Pulmonary and Crucial Care Division within the Mass Normal Brigham Division of Drugs. “Air purifiers did not reduce overall viral load in classrooms, suggesting that additional interventions may be needed in schools.”
HEPA filters are designed to scale back advantageous and particulate matter from the air, however there may be restricted real-world information on their effectiveness at filtering respiratory viruses transmitted through aerosols and droplets. Within the Faculty Inside-Metropolis Bronchial asthma Intervention Examine (SICAS-2), researchers enrolled elementary college college students recognized with bronchial asthma and attending public faculties within the Northeastern U.S. between September 2015 and June 2020.
The unique trial examined whether or not HEPA purifiers in lecture rooms may cut back bronchial asthma signs. The scholars’ 200 lecture rooms had been randomly assigned to obtain moveable HEPA purifiers or “sham” purifiers (which did not have a filter in them). On this secondary evaluation, the researchers seemed on the concentrations of 19 respiratory viruses within the air, assessing excessive viral publicity in addition to viral variety.
The analysis workforce detected viruses in 98.4% of air samples from the school rooms. Though they didn’t detect a lower in respiratory viral publicity general for the school rooms with HEPA purifiers, the researchers did see a modest lower (32.8%) in viral variety. However this lower in viral variety wasn’t related to a discount in class absences. The researchers did see a connection between decrease humidity and excessive viral publicity, suggesting that controlling humidity could also be an vital issue for reducing publicity to sure viruses.
“School-aged children and teachers face increased risks from respiratory viruses, which can impact their health, lead to missed school days, and create challenges for families,” stated Lai.
“While our study did not find that HEPA air purifiers reduced high viral exposure in classrooms, it’s important to note that the trial was originally designed to measure other outcomes. In addition to air filtration or better ventilation, maintaining classroom humidity between 40% and 60% may help lower viral exposures and improve comfort for students and teachers.”
Extra data:
Air Air purifier Intervention for Respiratory Viral Publicity in Elementary Faculties A Secondary Evaluation of a Randomized Scientific Trial, JAMA Community Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.36951
Supplied by
Brigham and Ladies’s Hospital
Quotation:
HEPA purifiers alone is probably not sufficient to scale back viral publicity in faculties (2025, October 10)
retrieved 11 October 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-10-hepa-purifiers-viral-exposure-schools.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Other than any truthful dealing for the aim of personal research or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for data functions solely.
