Lawrence Caryn, Harnish Delbert A, Sandoval-Powers Megan, Mills Devin, Bergman Michael, Heimbuch Brian K
Engineering Science Division, Applied Research Associates, Panama City, FL.
Engineering Science Division, Applied Research Associates, Panama City, FL.
Am J Infect Control. 2017 Dec 1;45(12):1324-1330. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.06.034. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
Health care facilities are considering the use of reusable respiratory protective devices (RPDs) to mitigate a potential N95 filtering facepiece respirator shortage caused by an influenza pandemic. US regulators are also considering stockpiling reusable RPDs for pandemic preparedness, but limited data exist on the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection of these devices. This study defines reprocessing protocols and evaluates their effectiveness against a pandemic influenza strain in a laboratory setting.
Five half-mask elastomeric respirator models and 3 powered air-purifying respirator models were contaminated with influenza virus and artificial skin oil on multiple surfaces. RPDs were then manually treated with 1 of 2 methods: cleaned or cleaned and disinfected. Presence of viable influenza was determined via swab sampling and a median tissue culture infectious dose assay.
Across 41 RPD surfaces, a mean log reduction in viable influenza of 4.54 ± 0.97 log median tissue culture infectious dose was achieved for all treated surfaces, which included both cleaned and cleaned and disinfected surfaces.
The methods defined as part of this study are effective for eliminating viable influenza in the presence of artificial skin oil on most of the RPD surfaces tested. Material type and RPD design should be considered when implementing RPD reprocessing protocols.
医疗机构正在考虑使用可重复使用的呼吸防护装置（RPD），以缓解流感大流行导致的潜在N95过滤式面罩呼吸器短缺问题。美国监管机构也在考虑储备可重复使用的RPD以应对大流行防范，但关于这些装置清洁和消毒有效性的数据有限。本研究定义了再处理方案，并在实验室环境中评估了它们对大流行性流感毒株的有效性。
五种半面罩弹性体呼吸器模型和三种动力空气净化呼吸器模型在多个表面被流感病毒和人造皮肤油污染。然后，RPD用两种方法之一进行手动处理：清洁或清洁并消毒。通过拭子采样和中位组织培养感染剂量测定来确定活流感病毒的存在。
在41个RPD表面上，所有处理过的表面，包括清洁和清洁并消毒的表面，活流感病毒的平均对数减少量为4.54±0.97对数中位组织培养感染剂量。
本研究定义的方法对于在大多数测试的RPD表面上存在人造皮肤油的情况下消除活流感病毒是有效的。在实施RPD再处理方案时应考虑材料类型和RPD设计。
