scholarly journals Does wearing a COVID-19 face mask increase the incidence of dermatological conditions for healthcare workers? A brief qualitative review of current literature. (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn-Jenia Wilcha
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory System ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Skin Damage ◽  
Qualitative Review

BACKGROUND COVID-19 is a health emergency. It was found in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and has rapidly spread around the world, leaving no country untouched. SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory infection characterised by a pneumonia of unknown aetiology. It is transmitted through respiratory droplets, for example: when breathing, talking and coughing. Transmission of the virus is high. Healthcare workers play critical roles in providing help to those affected with COVID-19; this could not be done without the use of personal protective equipment. Personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, involves the use of goggles, masks, gloves and gowns with the aims of protecting healthcare workers and reducing the transmission of the virus. PPE has proven to be effective in reducing the transmission of the virus, however multiple reports of skin disease and damage associated with occupational mask wear have come to light. OBJECTIVE The objective is to review current literature of newly arising dermatological conditions as a result of occupational mask wear during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A qualitative review investigating new reports of dermatological conditions associated with occupational mask wear was carried out by referencing keywords, including: “covid mask dermatology, covid mask skin and covid mask skin damage” from the databases of PubMed, Google Scholar and ResearchGate. 287 articles were found (PubMed: 59, Google Scholar: 90, ResearchGate: 138); 40 articles successfully formed part of the study. A further 7 articles were found by manually reviewing reference lists of the included articles. The findings were tabulated and analysed under the headings: dermatological diagnosis, causes and management. RESULTS Qualitative analysis of the reviewed data was carried out. A number of dermatological conditions, as listed in Table 1, were found to be increasing due to prolonged and frequent contact of facial masks. The number of healthcare workers affected by symptoms of skin damage was significant in almost all studies, showing a worldwide problem was present. Pressure-related injuries were often the most serious complaint; recommendations to reduce this type of injury include hydrocolloid dressings, plastic handles, education and regular moisturising. Innovation of protective equipment as well as services, such as virtual clinics, need to be advanced to protect the welfare of staff. CONCLUSIONS In these unprecedented times, PPE has been an effective barrier in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 to healthcare workers. This has allowed healthcare workers to bravely provide care to patients. However, the evidence collated suggests that despite the obvious benefits of using facial masks to protect the respiratory system, there are also considerable health consequences to the skin. Future research needs to pursue the advancement of facial masks which considers both the protection of the respiratory system as well as skin care, something which this review demonstrates has been neglected.

Respiratory viruses on personal protective equipment and bodies of healthcare workers

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1356-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linh T. Phan ◽  
Dagmar Sweeney ◽  
Dayana Maita ◽  
Donna C. Moritz ◽  
Susan C. Bleasdale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Respiratory Viruses ◽  
The Body ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Bare Hand ◽  
Polymerase Chain

AbstractObjective:To characterize the magnitude of virus contamination on personal protective equipment (PPE), skin, and clothing of healthcare workers (HCWs) who cared for patients having acute viral infections.Design:Prospective observational study.Setting:Acute-care academic hospital.Participants:A total of 59 HCWs agreed to have their PPE, clothing, and/or skin swabbed for virus measurement.Methods:The PPE worn by HCW participants, including glove, face mask, gown, and personal stethoscope, were swabbed with Copan swabs. After PPE doffing, bodies and clothing of HCWs were sampled with Copan swabs: hand, face, and scrubs. Preamplification and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods were used to quantify viral RNA copies in the swab samples.Results:Overall, 31% of glove samples, 21% of gown samples, and 12% of face mask samples were positive for virus. Among the body and clothing sites, 21% of bare hand samples, 11% of scrub samples, and 7% of face samples were positive for virus. Virus concentrations on PPE were not statistically significantly different than concentrations on skin and clothing under PPE. Virus concentrations on the personal stethoscopes and on the gowns were positively correlated with the number of torso contacts (P < .05). Virus concentrations on face masks were positively correlated with the number of face mask contacts and patient contacts (P < .05).Conclusions:Healthcare workers are routinely contaminated with respiratory viruses after patient care, indicating the need to ensure that HCWs complete hand hygiene and use other PPE to prevent dissemination of virus to other areas of the hospital. Modifying self-contact behaviors may decrease the presence of virus on HCWs.

scholarly journals Protection Level and Reusability of a Modified Full-Face Snorkel Mask as Alternative Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Schmitt ◽  
Lewis S. Jones ◽  
Elise A. Aeby ◽  
Christian Gloor ◽  
Berthold Moser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Additional Protection ◽  
Small Virus ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Full Face

The worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 drastically increased pressure on medical resources and highlighted the need for rapidly available, large-scale and low-cost personal protective equipment (PPE). In this work, an alternative full-face mask is adapted from a modified snorkel mask to be used as PPE with two medical grade filters and a 3D-printed adapter. As the mask covers the eyes, mouth and nose, it acts as a full-face shield, providing additional protection to healthcare workers. The filtration efficiency of different medical filters is measured for particles below 300 nm to cover the size of the SARS-CoV-2 and small virus-laden droplets. The filtration performance of the adapted full-face mask is characterized using NaCl particles below 500 nm and different fitting scenarios. The mask is compared to a commercial respirator and characterized according to the EN 149 standard, demonstrating that the protection fulfills the requirements for the FFP2 level (filtering face-piece 2, stopping at least 94% of airborne particles). The device shows a good resistance to several cycles of decontamination (autoclaving and ethanol immersion), is easy to be produced locally at low cost and helps addressing the shortage in FFP2 masks and face shields by providing adequate protection to healthcare workers against particles below 500 nm.

scholarly journals Stress and Associated Factors among Frontline Healthcare Workers in the COVID-19 Epicenter of Da Nang City, Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7378
Author(s):  
Nhan Phuc Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Duong Dinh Le ◽  
Robert Colebunders ◽  
Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo ◽  
Trung Dinh Tran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Stress Component ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Laboratory Workers ◽  
Frontline Healthcare Workers ◽  
Second Wave

Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) involved in the COVID-19 response have a higher risk of experiencing psychosocial distress amidst the pandemic. Between July and September 2020, a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic appeared in Vietnam with Da Nang city being the epicenter. During the outbreak, HCWs were quarantined within the health facilities in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19 to their respective communities. Using the stress component of the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), we assessed the level of stress among HCWs in Da Nang city. Between 30 August and 15 September 2020, 746 frontline HCWs were recruited to fill in an online structured questionnaire. Overall, 44.6% of participants experienced increased stress and 18.9% severe or extremely severe stress. In multivariable analysis, increased stress was associated with longer working hours (OR = 1.012; 95% CI: 1.004–1.019), working in health facilities providing COVID-19 treatment (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.04–2.39), having direct contact with patients or their bio-samples (physicians, nurses and laboratory workers; OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.02–1.99), low confidence in the available personal protective equipment (OR = 0.846; 95% CI: 0.744–0.962) and low knowledge on COVID-19 prevention and treatment (OR = 0.853; 95% CI: 0.739–0.986). In conclusion, many frontline HCWs experienced increased stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang city. Reducing working time, providing essential personal protective equipment and enhancing the knowledge on COVID-19 will help to reduce this stress. Moreover, extra support is needed for HCWs who are directly exposed to COVID-19 patients.

scholarly journals Fit Testing Retrofitted Full-Face Snorkel Masks as a Form of Novel Personal Protective Equipment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Stephanie Toigo ◽  
Michel Jacques ◽  
Tarek Razek ◽  
Ewa Rajda ◽  
Sidney Omelon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Passing Rate ◽  
Fit Testing ◽  
Full Face ◽  
Medical Grade

ABSTRACT Objective: Bottlenecks in the personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain have contributed to shortages of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in fractures in the functionality of healthcare systems. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of retrofitted commercial snorkel masks as an alternative respirator for healthcare workers during infectious disease outbreaks. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed, analyzing qualitative and quantitative fit test results of the retrofitted Aria Ocean Reef® full-face snorkeling mask on healthcare workers at the McGill University Health Centre between April-June 2020. Historical fit test results, using medical-grade respirators, for healthcare workers were also analyzed. Results: During the study period, 71 participants volunteered for fit testing, 60.6% of which were nurses. The overall fit test passing rate using the snorkel mask was 83.1%. Of the participants who did not previously pass fit testing with medical-grade respirators, 80% achieved a passing fit test with the snorkel respirator. Conclusions: The results suggest that this novel respirator may be an effective and feasible alternative solution to address PPE shortages, while still providing healthcare workers with ample protection. Additional robust testing will be required to ensure that respirator fit is maintained, after numerous rounds of disinfection.

scholarly journals Acoustic voice characteristics with and without wearing a facemask

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Duy Duong Nguyen ◽  
Patricia McCabe ◽  
Donna Thomas ◽  
Alison Purcell ◽  
Maree Doble ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Mask Condition ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Significant Attenuation ◽  
Cepstral Peak Prominence ◽  
Vocal Intensity ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
The Voice

AbstractFacemasks are essential for healthcare workers but characteristics of the voice whilst wearing this personal protective equipment are not well understood. In the present study, we compared acoustic voice measures in recordings of sixteen adults producing standardised vocal tasks with and without wearing either a surgical mask or a KN95 mask. Data were analysed for mean spectral levels at 0–1 kHz and 1–8 kHz regions, an energy ratio between 0–1 and 1–8 kHz (LH1000), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS), and vocal intensity. In connected speech there was significant attenuation of mean spectral level at 1–8 kHz region and there was no significant change in this measure at 0–1 kHz. Mean spectral levels of vowel did not change significantly in mask-wearing conditions. LH1000 for connected speech significantly increased whilst wearing either a surgical mask or KN95 mask but no significant change in this measure was found for vowel. HNR was higher in the mask-wearing conditions than the no-mask condition. CPPS and vocal intensity did not change in mask-wearing conditions. These findings implied an attenuation effects of wearing these types of masks on the voice spectra with surgical mask showing less impact than the KN95.

scholarly journals Adherence to personal protective equipment use among healthcare workers caring for confirmed COVID-19 and alleged non-COVID-19 patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike M. Neuwirth ◽  
Frauke Mattner ◽  
Robin Otchwemah
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Care Workers

AbstractAdherence observations of health care workers (HCW) revealed deficiencies in the use of recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) among HCW caring in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards during the first period of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in a university hospital in Germany. The adherence to wearing surgical face or FFP2-masks and disinfecting hands prior to donning and after doffing the PPE was significantly higher in COVID-19 wards However, there was no total adherence of 100% in COVID-19 wards.

scholarly journals Use of Personal Protective Equipment and Operating Room Behaviors in Four Surgical Subspecialties: Personal Protective Equipment and Behaviors in Surgery

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (02) ◽  
pp. 110-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Akduman ◽  
Lynn E. Kim ◽  
Rodney L. Parks ◽  
Paul B. L'Ecuyer ◽  
Sunita Mutha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Operating Room ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Hand Surgery ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Exposure Rate ◽  
Total Exposure

AbstractObjective:To evaluate Universal Precautions (UP) compliance in the operating room (OR).Design:Prospective observational cohort. Trained observers recorded information about (1) personal protective equipment used by OR staff; (2) eyewear, glove, or gown breaks; (3) the nature of sharps transfers; (4) risk-taking behaviors of the OR staff; and (5) needlestick injuries and other blood and body-fluid exposures.Setting:Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a 1,000-bed, tertiary-care hospital affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri.Participants:OR personnel in four surgical specialties (gynecologic, orthopedic, cardiothoracic, and general). Procedures eligible for the study were selected randomly. Hand surgery and procedures requiring no or a very small incision (eg, arthroscopy, laparoscopy) were excluded.Results:A total of 597 healthcare workers' procedures were observed in 76 surgical cases (200 hours). Of the 597 healthcare workers, 32% wore regular glasses, and 24% used no eye protection. Scrub nurses and medical students were more likely than other healthcare workers to wear goggles. Only 28% of healthcare workers double gloved, with orthopedic surgery personnel being the most compliant. Sharps passages were not announced in 91% of the surgical procedures. In 65 cases (86%), sharps were adjusted manually. Three percutaneous and 14 cutaneous exposures occurred, for a total exposure rate of 22%.Conclusion:OR personnel had poor compliance with UP. Although there was significant variation in use of personal protective equipment between groups, the total exposure rate was high (22%), indicating the need for further training and reinforcement of UP to reduce occupational exposures.

scholarly journals Assessing personal protective equipment needs for healthcare workers

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Young‐A Lee ◽  
Mir Salahuddin ◽  
Linda Gibson‐Young ◽  
Gretchen D. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Protective Equipment
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