Malin Alsved

Research:

My research is about understanding and preventing spreading of airborne diseases. We share the air that we breathe with people when we live in urban areas, and sometimes the air can contain infectious microorganisms. But what makes bacteria and viruses survive better or worse in the air? That is one of the questions that my research is targeting. 

Hospitals are a critical environments as there are already sick patients at the same time as it is a work place for the hospital staff. Disease outbreaks are costly when hospitals wards need to close down and it becomes a stressful environment for the staff. In a recent study we found airborne winter vomiting viruses in air close to vomiting patients, and in the next project we will investigate how much coronavirus, influenza virus and RS virus that can be found in hospital wards with infected patients.

In an earlier study, we evaluated ventilation systems for operating rooms, as this is crucial during infection sensitive surgery. Bacterial contamination in open wound during surgery causes long infections with severe outcomes and is highly unwanted. At the same time, the ventilation should also provide a good working environment for the medical staff and be energy efficient.