House of Commons (ventilation). Report on an investigation of the ventilation of the debating chamber of the House of Commons / by Dr. M.M. Gordon.

  • Great Britain. Office of Works and Public Buildings.
Date:
1905-06
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: House of Commons (ventilation). Report on an investigation of the ventilation of the debating chamber of the House of Commons / by Dr. M.M. Gordon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    274/286 (page 210)
    SECTION VII. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. Three problems were formulated at the beginning of -this ‘report as’ summarising the main points requiring investigation in reference to the ventilation of the Debating Chamber. These problems, and the solutions to them suggested by the investigation, are as follows:— I—The Relationship, if any, between the Ventilation of the Debating Chamber and the Spread of Influenza. There is reason to believe that the mode of infection in the vast majority of cases of influenza* is by the inhalation of particulate material dissemi- nated from the mouth and upper respiratory passages of a person infected with the specific micro-organism of this disease. Such persons are liable to give off the materies morbi when they cough, sneeze, or loudly articulate. According to a passage in the report of the Ventilation Committee,{ at a time when influenza was prevalent, Members still in a convalescent stage of the disease were present during a Debate. These Members would be liable to transmit the infection by giving off particulate matter in perform- ance of the acts above mentioned. At the time when the ventilation system of the Debating Chamber was designed, the object in view was the removal of the gaseous products” of respiration, and nothing definite was then known of particulate matter disseminated in the breath and liable to contain morbific virus. It is. hardly surprising, therefore, to find that, at the time when the experiments were made, the ventilation failed either to limit the spread of breath-borne particulate material, or to efficiently remove it from the Chamber. The speaking experiments with B. prodigiosus as index clearly show this to have been the case. The effect of the ventilation was to distribute the breath-borne particulate material over a wider area within the Chamber. It may be argued that the dispersion or dilution of the particulate material effected by the ventilation would diminish the liability of those » in the immediate neighbourhood of the infectious person to derive the virus. If so, it is also true that their salvation would tend to be effected to some extent at the expense of persons present in distant parts of the. Chamber. ) , But before these experiments can be applied as an absolute index of the effect of the ventilation on the spread of influenzal virus,t three admissions must be made. First, it must be conceded that B. prodigiosus was present” in the mouth of the person who spoke far more abundantly than B. influenze would have been present in the mouth of a person convalescent from influ- enza, yet well enough to attend a debate. Though an excellent. method, therefore, of demonstrating the spread of organic matter derived from: the mouth, the analogy of the results as an index of the spread of influenzal virus must not be pushed too far. Secondly, it must. be admitted that even if a Member convalescent from true influenza did attend the Debating * At present, at least two different infections are included under the general term “influenza.” Influenza Vera is clinically a severe disease, and is associated with the presence of B. influenze (Pfeiffer). A milder affection of a catarrhal nature is by no, means uncommon in this country, especially during the winter, and though frequently ~ ealled influenza, this disease is ‘distinct from influenza vera not only clinically, but also - bacteriologically, for the infecting agent in this case is micrococcus catarrhalis. The common cold would appear to be distinct from both the above infections. t First Report of the Committee, June 25th, 1903, page 36, question 678. { The influence exercised by convection currents due to the presence of persons in the - Chamber has not yet been determined. . d