The retrofit of respiratory isolation rooms for tuberculosis patients in Taiwan

In order to effectively control nosocomial infection 12 respiratory isolation rooms fortuberculosis patients in four hospitals have been built by the Energy & Resources Laboratories,Industry Technology Research Institute in Taiwan. This project was funded by the Center ofDisease Control of the Health Department. The performance of the air-conditioning andventilation/exhaust system of respiratory isolation rooms has been tested and validated. Thetested items include ventilation rate, static pressure, temperature, humidity and noise. All themeasuring data have been proved to meet the regulation of the respiratory isolation roomissued by the Health Department, Executive Yun in Taiwan.The methods to retrofit the air-conditioning and ventilation/exhaust system of respiratoryisolation rooms are illustrated in this paper in more detail. We propose a very effective andlow cost methodology to improve the air-conditioning and ventilation/exhaust system of therespiratory isolation rooms and it is being used in Taiwan widely now.