This study will test if affordable air cleaning devices (box fans with a filter attachedand/or ultraviolet light lamps) installed in classrooms can reduce the number of viralrespiratory illnesses schoolchildren experience.
This cluster-randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh schools will examine whether
low-cost air filtration and/or human-safe ultraviolet germicidal light interventions can
reduce the incidence of schoolchildren's respiratory viral infections. The main study
objectives are:
1. Pilot and optimize an intervention to filter classroom air.
2. Pilot and optimize an intervention to treat classroom air with ultraviolet light.
3. Assess the separate and combined effect of air filtration and ultraviolet light on
the incidence of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed illness from respiratory
viruses.
Methods: The study will take place in 60 government primary schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Within each enrolled school, 5 classrooms of students in grades 3, 4 and 5 will be
randomly assigned to receive:
1. Box fans with a filter attachment.
2. 220 nanometer (nm) wavelength ultraviolet light air cleaner lamps.
3. Both the box fans with a filter and the 220 nm ultraviolet lamps.
4. No device: a control group that receives no additional device ("standard of care").
Two classrooms within each school will be assigned as controls.
Why does this matter?: Clarifying the impact of low-cost practical solutions could
support the adoption of these strategies that could reduce influenza and severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in schools in order to
reduce the burden of respiratory illness in these communities.
Device: Box Fan
Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with 2 - 8 box fans each with a single
minimum efficiency reporting value-14 (MERV-14) filter sufficient to increase effective
air changes per hour to 12 based on the clean air delivery rate measured in cubic feet
per minute of the box fan + filter * 60 divided by the room volume.
Device: UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Unit
Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with one or two 222nm wavelength light
ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamp units (number of units per classroom based on
room volume).
Device: Combined: Box Fan and UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Units
Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with both box fans and UV germicidal
irradiation lamp units.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Schoolchildren of Bangladesh Government-run primary schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh
ages 9 - 12 years, of all gender identifiers (male, female, transgender, prefer not
to designate), without specific ethnic selection amongst standard school children of
Bangladesh government schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Exclusion Criteria:
- School children of non-Bangladesh Government-run primary schools and/or
schoolchildren who do not attend a Bangladesh Government-run primary school in
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- School children who are not able to or have a contraindication with the ability to
comply with study procedures.
Not Provided
Mahbubur Rahman
+88 02 2222 77 001-10 - 4003
Mahbubr@icddrb.org
Stephen P Luby, MD, Principal Investigator
Stanford University