Department of Anesthesiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
the Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Anesthesiology. 2021 Dec 1;135(6):951-962. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000004005.
Respiratory viruses are transmitted via respiratory particles that are emitted when people breath, speak, cough, or sneeze. These particles span the size spectrum from visible droplets to airborne particles of hundreds of nanometers. Barrier face coverings ("cloth masks") and surgical masks are loose-fitting and provide limited protection from airborne particles since air passes around the edges of the mask as well as through the filtering material. Respirators, which fit tightly to the face, provide more effective respiratory protection. Although healthcare workers have relied primarily on disposable filtering facepiece respirators (such as N95) during the COVID-19 pandemic, reusable elastomeric respirators have significant potential advantages for the COVID-19 and future respiratory virus pandemics. However, currently available elastomeric respirators were not designed primarily for healthcare or pandemic use and require further development to improve their suitability for this application. The authors believe that the development, implementation, and stockpiling of improved elastomeric respirators should be an international public health priority.
呼吸道病毒通过呼吸道飞沫传播，这些飞沫是人们呼吸、说话、咳嗽或打喷嚏时产生的。这些颗粒的大小范围从可见的液滴到数百纳米的空气传播颗粒。阻隔面部覆盖物（“布口罩”）和外科口罩宽松贴合，对空气传播颗粒的防护效果有限，因为空气会绕过口罩边缘以及过滤材料进入。贴合面部的呼吸器能提供更有效的呼吸防护。尽管在 COVID-19 大流行期间医护人员主要依赖一次性过滤式口罩（如 N95），但可重复使用的弹性体呼吸器在 COVID-19 和未来的呼吸道病毒大流行中具有显著的潜在优势。然而，目前可用的弹性体呼吸器并非主要为医疗保健或大流行用途而设计，需要进一步开发以提高其在该应用中的适用性。作者认为，开发、实施和储备改良的弹性体呼吸器应成为国际公共卫生的优先事项。
