{"id":320488,"date":"2023-11-17T08:11:52","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T13:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/air-filters-probably-wont-cut-your-odds-for-illness-study-drugs-com-mednews\/"},"modified":"2023-11-19T05:36:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T10:36:12","slug":"air-filters-probably-wont-cut-your-odds-for-illness-study-drugs-com-mednews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/air-filters-probably-wont-cut-your-odds-for-illness-study-drugs-com-mednews\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Filters Probably Won’t Cut Your Odds for Illness: Study – Drugs.com MedNews","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm<\/a>. Last updated on Nov 17, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter<\/p>\n

FRIDAY, Nov. 17, 2023 — Air filters might help keep the air in your home fresh, but a new review finds they don\u2019t appear to reduce your risk of catching an airborne virus.<\/p>\n

Technologies designed to make indoor spaces safer from infection<\/a> are not effective in the real world, researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK argue.<\/p>\n

The team analyzed data from 32 prior studies in which air treatment technologies were tested in real-world setting like schools or nursing facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kinds of technologies that we considered included filtration, germicidal lights, ionisers and any other way of safely removing viruses or deactivating them in breathable air,\u201d said lead researcher Dr. Julii Brainard<\/a>, from the University of East Anglia\u2019s Norwich Medical School.<\/p>\n

The pooled data revealed that the filter systems did nothing to keep people from catching airborne respiratory or GI infections.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn short, we found no strong evidence that air treatment technologies are likely to protect people in real-world settings,\u201d Brainard said in a university news release. \u201cThe combined evidence was that these technologies don\u2019t stop or reduce illness. “<\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings are disappointing — but it is vital that public health decision makers have a full picture,\u201d Brainard added.<\/p>\n

The study was published Nov. 16 in the journal Preventive Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The researchers did note that all of the studies in their review dated from prior to the pandemic. None of the studies of air treatment started during the COVID era have been published yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully those studies that have been done during COVID will be published soon and we can make a more informed judgement about what the value of air treatment may have been during the pandemic,\u201d Brainard said.<\/p>\n

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Sources<\/h2>\n