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Face Masks and Hand Sanitizers
Published in Hanadi Talal Ahmedah, Muhammad Riaz, Sagheer Ahmed, Marius Alexandru Moga, The Covid-19 Pandemic, 2023
Shahzad Sharif, Mahnoor Zahid, Maham Saeed, Izaz Ahmad, M. Zia-Ul-Haq, Rizwan Ahmad
Surgical-masks which usually do not make a tight seal on the face and should be used for 8 hours maximum, but if it gets wet by droplets or damaged then must be changed as early as possible. It can be contaminated when wear around neck. As compared to them, respirators are known as filtering face-piecepieces (FFP) in Europe and as N95 masks in the United States. Three types of FFP are known on the basis of their performance. These respirators are FFP1, FFP2, FFP3, which can filter the particles above 0.3 micrometer with greater than 80%, 94%, and 99% efficiency, respectively.
Extended Use and Disinfection of N95 Respirators and Exam Gloves During a Pandemic *
Published in Robert N. Phalen, Howard I. Maibach, Protective Gloves for Occupational Use, 2023
R.N. Phalen, J-M. Lachapelle, Y.K. Hamidi
Over the following months, healthcare providers and hospitals around the world were overwhelmed with patients, which strained the global supply chain for PPE. Both N95 respirators and medical exam gloves are critical PPE components for healthcare workers, helping protect against the spread of respiratory diseases to and from patients. N95 respirators are designed to filter small airborne respiratory droplets, including those associated with coughs, sneezes, breathing, and speech, and therefore provide a higher level of protection to healthcare workers than surgical masks and cloth face masks. If used appropriately, disposable medical exam gloves can provide additional protection against the transmission of most airborne viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
Adapting in a Crisis
Published in Kwan Hoong Ng, Magdalena S. Stoeva, Medical Physics During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021
Zoe Brady, James M. Kofler, Mika Kortesniemi, Kosuke Matsubara, Jose M. Fernandez-Soto, Yoon Yongsu, Kwan Hoong Ng
Infection prevention became a key focus in all areas of work. Masks became mandatory in many healthcare environments, along with hand hygiene and physical distancing. Lower restriction levels required surgical masks, while aerosol producing procedures and higher-risk zones required N95 filtering face-piece respirators (FFR, also referred to as FFP2/3). Other personal protective equipment (PPE) included single-use gowns, gloves, and visors. Physicists performed onsite work with the appropriate PPE (e.g., masks, gloves) and physical distancing between staff members. A practical precaution to limit contamination in computed tomography (CT) was to place a piece of plastic wrap over the gantry control and ventilate the room post-COVID patients.
Personal protective equipment in the siege of respiratory viral pandemics: strides made and next steps
Published in Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine, 2021
Uzoamaka A. Eke, Ahizechukwu C. Eke
Contrarily, a surgical mask is a single use and disposable, FDA approved face barrier that protects the wearer from splashes or body fluids from the patient, but does not protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pathogens. In fact, it protects the patient from the health worker’s respiratory pathogens and secretions, which is its primary purpose, thereby preventing the contamination of a sterile field [10]. A study showed that even if the surgical mask has some filter material, penetration of sub-micrometer aerosols still occurs, ranging from 25% to 70% [15]. In addition, wearing multiple face masks at the same time to decrease penetration of particulate matter still falls short of a minimum fit factor of 100 by almost 90% [16]. The understanding of these basic principles in the function of respiratory barriers is crucial to providing health workers the appropriate PPE.
Bacterial contamination of forehead skin and surgical mask in aerosol-producing dental treatment
Published in Journal of Oral Microbiology, 2021
Madline P Gund, Gabor Boros, Matthias Hannig, Sigrid Thieme-Ruffing, Barbara Gärtner, Tilman R Rohrer, Arne Simon, Stefan Rupf
The microbiological methodology used in this study had the advantage that the cultivation on agar only detects viable bacteria. The use of nucleic acid-based methods would probably have led to a larger number of detected species. This would have demonstrated the potential of aerosols to transport bacteria, regardless of their viability. From the infectious disease perspective, however, only viable bacteria pose a potential risk to the dental staff. The agar used usually serves to detect the majority of fast-growing bacteria. Slow-growing species may have been underestimated. However, it was to be expected that readily cultivable and robust bacteria, in particular, would play a role since the resident microbiota would offer a certain degree of protection against invading bacteria. Additionally, bacteria that spread easily would also be at an advantage if further contamination were to occur from the forehead or mask onto surfaces, other regions of the body, or other individuals. The MALDI-TOF MS analysis we used was restricted to colonies that were identified as different phenotypes. This may potentially have resulted in underestimation of the bacterial spectrum on both foreheads and surgical masks. In our study, surgical masks were worn for 60 min. Published data suggest, as shown by our own preliminary tests, that in the absence of aerosol-releasing treatments, surgical masks were completely free of detectable bacteria. Hence, this potential limitation is irrelevant to the conclusions of our study.
Negative and positive environmental perspective of COVID-19: air, water, wastewater, forest, and noise quality
Published in Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2021
Ranjan K Mohapatra, Pradeep K Das, Khan Sharun, Ruchi Tiwari, Saumya Ranjan Mohapatara, Pranab K. Mohapatra, Ajit Behera, Tamoghna Acharyya, Venkataramana Kandi, Kudrat-E Zahan, Senthilkumar Natesan, Muhammad Bilal, Kuldeep Dhama
The scavengers and corporation trash collectors are in danger due to their direct exposure to such wastes. They become the most vulnerable groups to contract the disease. In addition, they may also be infected by other pathogens such as meningitis and Hepatitis B. The surgical masks must not be worn for more than a day. Therefore, discarded masks, sanitizer bottles, tissue papers, etc., make up enormous wastes for the environment. According to a recent survey, a huge quantity of rejected masks was washed up to 100 m stretches of a beach in Hong Kong by the tide. When 7.81 billion people unexpectedly use masks, gloves, sanitizers, etc., daily, there would be a phenomenal increase in the amount of trash created that subsequently gets thrown into the environment. When these discarded medical wastes enter the habitat (ocean and land), a large number of innocent animals lose their lives by eating them mistakenly as their food [42]. The waste is thrown openly near highway sides, rivers, and oceans [43]. As we know, cows, cattle, dogs, etc., are commonly searching for foods from wastes thrown by humans. It is reported that a huge number of cows, cattle, goats, dogs, etc., are dying every year by eating polythenes containing waste food materials; the problem would further aggravate if they will come in contact with such medical wastes during this pandemic period.