Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
University of Maryland, College Park.
Workplace Health Saf. 2023 Mar;71(3):137-143. doi: 10.1177/21650799221135583. Epub 2022 Dec 8.
With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, healthcare workers (HCW) have relied on reusable personal protective equipment (PPE), including respirators and face shields (FSs). The effectiveness of decontamination procedures outside experimental settings is unclear. We examined the prevalence of surface contamination on reusable PPE used by HCWs at a hospital incorporating daily centralized decontamination and post-use wiping by sampling for common pathogens.
Samples were collected from HCWs' CleanSpace Halo respirator face masks (FMs) and FSs at the start of shift, immediately after use, and after cleaning with disinfecting wipes. Samples were analyzed for pathogens using the Applied Biosystems™ TaqPath™ COVID-19 Combo Kit and ThermoFisher TaqMan Array Card. Patient charts were reviewed for clinical correlation.
Of the 89 samples, 51 from FMs and 38 from FSs, none tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, despite 58 being obtained from PPE used in the care of patients with COVID-19, many with recent aerosol-generating procedures. Four samples tested positive (4.5%) for , two each from FMs and FSs. FMs that tested positive were not worn concurrently with FSs that tested positive. The FM and FS samples testing positive were worn in the care of patients without diagnosed infection. No FMs tested positive following wipe-based disinfection, but both positive FS samples were found after disinfection wiping.
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION TO PRACTICE: Contamination of reusable PPE appears uncommon, especially with SARS-CoV-2, when regular decontamination programs are in place. The rare presence of highlights the importance of doffing procedures and hand hygiene by HCW to prevent surface contamination.
随着 SARS-CoV-2 的出现，医护人员（HCW）依赖可重复使用的个人防护设备（PPE），包括呼吸器和面罩（FS）。在实验环境之外，消毒程序的有效性尚不清楚。我们通过采样常见病原体，检查了一家医院整合日常集中消毒和使用后擦拭的情况下，HCW 使用的可重复使用 PPE 的表面污染发生率。
在轮班开始时、使用后立即以及使用消毒湿巾清洁后，从 HCW 的 CleanSpace Halo 呼吸器面罩（FM）和 FS 上采集样本。使用 Applied Biosystems™ TaqPath™ COVID-19 Combo Kit 和 ThermoFisher TaqMan Array Card 分析样本中的病原体。回顾患者图表以进行临床相关性分析。
在 89 个样本中，有 51 个来自 FM，38 个来自 FS，尽管其中 58 个来自护理 COVID-19 患者的 PPE，其中许多患者最近进行了气溶胶生成程序，但没有一个样本对 SARS-CoV-2 检测呈阳性。有 4 个样本（4.5%）对 检测呈阳性，来自 FM 和 FS 的各有 2 个。检测呈阳性的 FM 未与检测呈阳性的 FS 同时佩戴。检测呈阳性的 FM 和 FS 样本是在护理没有诊断出感染的患者时佩戴的。经擦拭消毒后，没有 FM 检测呈阳性，但在消毒擦拭后发现了两个阳性 FS 样本。
结论/实际应用：在定期进行消毒程序时，可重复使用的 PPE 出现污染的情况似乎并不常见，尤其是 SARS-CoV-2 污染。 检测呈阳性的 的罕见存在强调了 HCW 脱卸程序和手部卫生的重要性，以防止表面污染。
