# 3612
Tomorrow and Thursday the Institute of Medicine will conduct a workshop on the use of PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) by HCWs (Health Care Workers) when caring for novel H1N1 patients. This workshop will be broadcast live on the Internet.
As I outlined in two blogs last week (see Masking Our Disappointment, and IOM Meeting On PPEs For HCWs) ACIP and HICPAC committees have both recommended that HCWs wear surgical masks when providing routine care to novel H1N1 patients.
This represents a lower protective standard than is currently recommended by the CDC, which recommends the use of N95 respirators.
The problem, of course, is that our global supply of N95 masks is finite, and is believed unlikely to last HCWs through a pandemic wave.
Quite frankly, there’s not a lot of science available to tell us how effective either the surgical masks or respirators are in protecting against influenza in the workplace – although the working assumption has been for many years that N95s are superior protection.
Any adoption of a lower protective standard is likely to be greeted by many HCWs with resistance, and may affect their willingness to work during a pandemic.
From the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Health & Safety) Science blog we get an overview of tomorrow’s meeting. This is an excerpt, follow the link for the complete blog.
H1N1: Protecting Healthcare Workers
(Excerpt)
The IOM Workshop on Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers in the Workplace against Novel H1N1 Influenza A will be available via live audio webcast from 8 am to 5 pm on Wednesday, August 12th, and from 8 am to noon on Thursday, August 13th. The webcast can be accessed through the National Academies homepage. The full workshop agenda is available on the study's website.
NIOSH experts will participate in the panel discussion on what is known about the effectiveness of respirators and surgical masks with regard to influenza virus or particles of a similar size to provide worker protection. NIOSH also will provide an update on research related to cough dispersion and exposure measures of influenza transmission, with an emphasis on a recent urgent care air sampling study. NIOSH also conducted an emergency room air sampling study last year.
The overall workshop goals include:
- Examine the emerging science and clinical experience base associated with H1N1
- Discuss criteria used to delineate infection control guidelines
- Discuss criteria used to assess risk to the healthcare workforce
- Examine what's known about the effectiveness of medical masks, respirators, gowns, gloves, and eye protection in preventing H1N1 and seasonal influenza transmission
NIOSH would appreciate comments related to the workshop goals including peer-reviewed and published work on the topics mentioned above. We will forward comments received on this blog during the first week to the IOM to help inform their process. This is the first in a series of science blogs focusing on NIOSH initiatives related to H1N1. We welcome suggestions for future blogs on this topic.
Event Date:
August 11, 2009 - August 13, 2009
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
We have reached our seating capacity for the workshop and registration is CLOSED.
A live audio webcast of the workshop will be available:
August 12, 2009 - 8am-5pm (Eastern) and Thursday, August 13, 2009 from 8am-12pm (Eastern).
To access the webcast at those times, go to www.nas.edu.
If you have any questions regarding the workshop, please contact Judy Estep at jestep@nas.edu or 202-334-2013.
