# 3623
Day 2 of the IOM Workshop on PPEs for Health Care Workers (HCWs) caring for novel H1N1 workers continues today.
Live Webcast Continues Today for Workshop on Protecting Health Care Workers From Flu
Listen to a live audio webcast of a workshop on protecting health care workers from influenza infection in the event of a pandemic. The webcast will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 12 and from 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 13.
- Live! Listen to the Briefing (requires free RealPlayer)
- Study Web site
- Powerpoint presentation
Robert Roos of CIDRAP brings us an overview of yesterday’s proceedings (I was out of town, and didn’t hear it).
IOM hears diverse findings on PPE for flu
Robert Roos
News Editor
Aug 12, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – A task force of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), charged with making recommendations about how to protect healthcare workers against novel H1N1 influenza, today heard a variety of evidence that respirators and masks can shield healthcare workers (HCWs) and others from getting respiratory illnesses.
The IOM panel learned, for example, that N95 respirators—whether fit-tested or not—reduced respiratory illnesses in a recent multiple-hospital study in China, whereas surgical masks were not effective. But other studies, focusing on household transmission of flu, suggested that both surgical masks and N95-type respirators are valuable.
Still another study, involving students at the University of Michigan, suggested that the combination of surgical masks and hand sanitizers may reduce the risk of respiratory illness, but the results didn't achieve statistical significance.
