Moscow
FILTHY conditions on board Russia鈥檚 space station have caused its occupants
to suffer food poisoning and other infections, says an Italian microbiologist
who has been working with Russian scientists monitoring hygiene on the ageing
craft.
The outbreaks, which occurred over the past two years, have so far been
controlled using antibiotics. But Mario Pitzurra of Perugia University says that
they highlight the problems in maintaining acceptable levels of hygiene on a
spacecraft that has spent many years in orbit. Russian officials have hushed up
the incidents, he claims.
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鈥淢ir鈥檚 basic hygiene is very, very poor,鈥� says Pitzurra. 鈥淭he Russians have
kept this quiet. But there have been outbreaks of skin disease and also
respiratory infection. And they have had illness from food contamination, which
has not been publicised. They鈥檝e been very secretive about this.鈥�
Pitzurra has analysed samples brought back from Mir and has developed
techniques to monitor the microorganisms shed into a spacecraft by its crew. His
research shows that people living in confined, dirty and sweaty conditions,
simulating those aboard Mir, can shed up to 50 000 microorganisms per minute.
Under normal conditions, the figure is just 3000.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to monitor microbe levels and apply basic
standards of hygiene,鈥� says Pitzurra. Unfortunately, standards on Mir are
somewhat less than basic. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 have showers,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey just wash
themselves with a towel.鈥�
Mikhail Sinelshchikov, head of crewed flight operations at the Russian Space
Agency in Moscow, says that health checks on returning astronauts have 鈥渞evealed
nothing to worry about鈥�. Duane Peirson, head of microbiology at NASA鈥檚 Johnson
Space Center in Houston, adds that some symptoms blamed on infections might be
caused by movements of body fluids linked to weightlessness.
But Aleksandr Viktorov, the Russian space programme鈥檚 head of microbiological
safety, admits that Mir crew members have suffered from boils caused by skin
infections. Space flight is known to suppress the immune system, and Viktorov
says that astronauts face the highest risks towards the end of long stays in
orbit, and also in the days immediately following launch, 鈥渨hen their blood,
endocrine and other systems are adapting at different rates鈥�.
Chuck Doarn, manager of NASA鈥檚 aerospace medicine programme in Washington DC,
says that data from Mir will be studied to ensure good hygiene on the
International Space Station, due for completion in 2002. The station will be
fitted with improved air and water filtration systems. However, one Russian
Space Agency official told 快猫短视频 that not all of the Mir data
have been disclosed.