A new study published in the journal 'Microbiome' challenges the common belief that air in hospitals and airplanes is teeming with germs. Scientists analyzed face masks worn by travelers and healthcare workers to gauge exposure. The study focused solely on airborne exposure, not from touching surfaces. As environmental microbiologist Erica Hartman from Northwestern University stated, masks can serve as a cheap and easy tool for air sampling. It turns out the quantities of microbes are low, at least in hospitals and planes. After extracting DNA from the outside of the masks, researchers identified 407 microbial species. While this number seems large, most were common skin bacteria, and potentially harmful germs were present only in tiny amounts, with no evidence of active infection. The air in planes and hospitals was also strangely similar, both being vast clouds of human skin microbes. The most concerning finding was the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes, confirming a widely discussed reality: the alarming spread of antibiotic resistance. Thus, while there is logic in the assumption that hospital air is dirty and full of viruses and bacteria, this study suggests that direct airborne exposure in these environments is less of a threat than previously thought.
