[set fair (OP)]

.. and against antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospitals? Three people I know have fallen seriously ill in the last year, picking up infections after surgery. Wondering if such problems were common before antibiotics my research through up references to hospitals adding propylene glycol to the air conditioning.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2135271/

Concentrations of 1 gm. of propylene glycol vapor in two to four million cc. of air produced immediate and complete sterilization of air into which pneumococci, streptococci, staphylococci, H. influenzae, and other microorganisms as well as influenza virus had been sprayed.

It's action was attributed to dehydrating microbes, but I found no reference to experimental evidence to back this up.