Airborne bacteria and fungi are an ongoing problem in hospitals. Because of the antimicrobial activities of essential oils (EOs) dispersion of EOs into the air may help to reduce this contamination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the dispersion of selected EOs in reducing the microbial contamination in two hospital wards. The study was carried out at two wards of a 1,227-bed acute-care hospital in Austria. The concentration of airborne bacteria and fungi was measured in patient rooms before and after dispersion of a mixture of Citrus limon EO and Abies alba EO. Before dispersion of the EOs in both wards the mean concentration of bacteria was in a typical range (123 colony forming units (CFU) m-3 and 104 CFU m-3) while the mean concentration of fungi differed substantially (155 CFU m-3 and 28 CFU m-3). After dispersion of the EOs, a reduction in both bacterial and fungal contamination was observed. In the first two hours the mean concentration of airborne bacteria and fungi was reduced by approximately 40% and 30%-60% respectively. The selected EO mixture is effective in reducing the microbial contamination of the indoor air.

中文翻译：

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柠檬（Citrus limon）和银冷杉（Abies alba）的空气分散精油对医院病房中空气传播的细菌和真菌的影响。

空气传播的细菌和真菌是医院中持续存在的问题。由于香精油（EOs）的抗菌活性，将EOs分散到空气中可能有助于减少这种污染。这项研究的目的是评估在两个医院病房中选择的EOs分散体在减少微生物污染方面的功效。该研究在奥地利一家拥有1,227张病床的急救医院的两个病房中进行。在柑桔柠檬油EO和白冷杉（Abies alba）EO的混合物分散之前和之后，在患者房间中测量空气传播的细菌和真菌的浓度。在将EOs分散到两个区域之前，细菌的平均浓度处于典型范围内（123个菌落形成单位（CFU）m-3和104 CFU m-3），而真菌的平均浓度却存在显着差异（155 CFU m-3和28 CFU m-3）。在分散EO之后，观察到细菌和真菌污染均减少。在最初的两个小时内，空气传播细菌和真菌的平均浓度分别降低了约40％和30％-60％。所选的EO混合物可有效减少室内空气的微生物污染。