The need to develop a multidisciplinary expertise for the microbiological safety of operating theatres.

Surgical site infection (SSI) is a major complication following surgery and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, as well as increased costs (1). Over the past decades, the role of air as a vehicle of infection has been the subject of much interest and debate (1, 2). Guidelines for the design and ventilation of operating theatres (OTs) have been published, and threshold values have been proposed for both ultraclean and conventional theatres (1). Nevertheless, the levels of microbial air pollution in operating theatres still exceed recommended thresholds in many studies (2-4). In a recent contribution (3), a correlation was found between the level of microbial pollution and the number of people in the OTs and the number of door openings per hour. These results underline that it is essential to increase healthcare workers’ awareness of the risks associated with incorrect behaviours (5, 6).