There has been a lot of concern about the proliferation of superbugs such as MRSA in hospitals.

I feel it is unfair to blame the hospital staff, as these infections are also now rampant in gyms and other public places where it is possible to contract a community form of MRSA.

The advent of antibiotics was a marvellous discovery but some professionals feel that their overuse has contributed to the rise of superbugs. Therefore it is debatable whether the standards of cleanliness are wholly to blame for the rise in infections.

Apart from antibiotics and disinfectants, it has been shown that sunlight can destroy bacteria.

Taking inspiration from the Victorian era, there are some interesting ideas. In 1877 Downs and Blunt established that sunlight had the ability to destroy bacteria. In 1903 Neils Finsen won the Noble Prize for the successful treatment of skin tuberculosis with ultraviolet light.

Following these interesting discoveries it became fashionable to wheel patients out in their beds to take sun baths at the turn of the last century. Many patients were cured with this treatment. A Swiss doctor Auguste Roller championed sunlight therapy using buildings with open-air south-facing balconies.

I feel that the problem arising today may be due to the enclosed nature of hospital wards. It has recently been shown that rooms in hospitals which are bathed in sunlight have lower levels of bacteria. If hospitals where to be designed with sun rooms and more natural light, it is quite possible that these infection rates will go down if the lessons of history are correct.

I hope that in future architects will design hospitals in such a way as to maximise natural light.

Susan Thomas Magdalen Road Oxford