Sunlight kills bacteria very effectively; which is why hospitals used to be designed to admit it. Today, they are not. The germicidal properties of sunlight are not considered when buildings are being planned. One reason for this is that although human beings have been catching infections for millenia, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Eminent opinion has often held that diseases are not passed in the air. The idea that infectious diseases can be passed from person-to-person by any means other than direct contact has swung back and forwards down the centuries; from belief, to disbelief, and back again.
A contributor to the letters page of The Times on January 17, 2007 made some interesting observations about the control of MRSA and C. Difficile in hospitals. Apparently, hygiene is not the answer: the solution lies in controlling airborne infection.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2550639,00.html
On January 5, 2007 the Health Minister, Andy Burnham, stated that the Department of Health is not sponsoring research specifically focused on airborne transmission of hospital-acquired infections.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-01-05a.106282.h&s=mrsa#g106282.q0
If the airborne route is largely ignored then the part played by sunlight in reducing infections will continue to be ignored too.
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