Airtech International Group is launching a national media campaign directed at hospitals and medical establishments on the need for adequate indoor purification systems in their facilities.

Airtech International Group, a manufacturer of air-purification technology, is launching a national media campaign directed at hospitals and medical establishments on the need for adequate indoor purification systems in their facilities. The campaign was motivated by a report of a Legionnaires' disease breakout in a Maryland hospital late this summer.

Legionnaires' disease was named by the Center for Disease Control in 1976 when an outbreak was triggered by bacteria inadvertently distributed through the Philadelphia Stratford Hotel's ventilation system during an American Legion convention.

"Hotels, hospitals and millions of office buildings across the country have become breeding grounds for disease since the energy crisis of the 1970s created new demands to seal buildings and reduce the amount of fresh air to their occupants," said Airtech CEO C.J. Comu.

The Wall Street Journal reported in June that harmful bacteria growth is also rampant throughout the air-handling systems of many of the leading hotels in the United States.