Decontamination Methods and Reuse of Filtering Facepiece Respirators During SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak

Santos-López, Matías; Jaque-Ulloa, Diego & Serrano-Aliste, Sebastián

Summary

SARS-CoV-2 is a type of coronavirus with a high risk of contagion among patients and health care workers (HCW), being the cause of the largest health emergency in recent years. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are indicated for a single use. However, shortage has led to research new methods to decontaminate and reuse them, ensuring its availability. Evidence presents multiple procedures to decontaminate Filtering Facepiece Respirators type N95 (FFR), despite this, the ideal treatment should inactivate the pathogen, to ensure filter integrity, mask adjustments and the safety of who use this elements. Decontamination methods as vaporized hydrogen peroxide, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and moist heat are the most effective procedures against different pathogens. Facing the rising demand of PPE and FFR, it’s suggested to conduct researches to evaluate decontamination methods efficacy, and specifically against SARS-CoV-2, to generate protocols in ways to let to HCW reuse FFR N95 totally safe.

KEY WORDS: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, personal protective equipment, filtering facepiece respirators.

How to cite this article

SANTOS-LÓPEZ, M.; JAQUE-ULLOA, D. & SERRANOALISTE, S. Decontamination methods and reuse of filtering facepiece respirators during SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Int. J. Odontostomat., 14(3):310-315, 2020.