Personal protective equipment (PPE) in a pandemic: Approaches to PPE preservation for South African healthcare facilities

We present an update on infection prevention and control for COVID-19 in healthcare settings. This update focuses on measures to be applied in settings with increasing community transmission, growing demand for concern about COVID-19 patients, and subsequent staffing issues in the event of shortages of personal protective equipment for healthcare facilities worldwide. The comfort and emotional resilience of health care workers are key components in maintaining essential health care services during the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) outbreak.

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Infection control practices and challenges in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicentre cross-sectional study

Journal of Infection Prevention ◽

10.1177/17571774211012761 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 175717742110127

Author(s):

Salma Abbas ◽

Faisal Sultan

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Prevention And Control ◽

Infection Prevention ◽

Hospital Staff ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Infection Prevention And Control ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

And Control

Background: Patient and staff safety at healthcare facilities during outbreaks hinges on a prompt infection prevention and control response. Physicians leading these programmes have encountered numerous obstacles during the pandemic. Aim/objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate infection prevention and control practices and explore the challenges in Pakistan during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and administered a survey to physicians leading infection prevention and control programmes at 18 hospitals in Pakistan. Results: All participants implemented universal masking, limited the intake of patients and designated separate triage areas, wards and intensive care units for coronavirus disease 2019 patients at their hospitals. Eleven (61%) physicians reported personal protective equipment shortages. Staff at three (17%) hospitals worked without the appropriate personal protective equipment due to limited supplies. All participants felt overworked and 17 (94%) reported stress. Physicians identified the lack of negative pressure rooms, fear and anxiety among hospital staff, rapidly evolving guidelines, personal protective equipment shortages and opposition from hospital staff regarding the choice of recommended personal protective equipment as major challenges during the pandemic. Discussion: The results of this study highlight the challenges faced by physicians leading infection prevention and control programmes in Pakistan. It is essential to support infection prevention and control personnel and bridge the identified gaps to ensure patient and staff safety at healthcare facilities.

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Preparedness and response of a tertiary hospital to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: challenges, opportunities and lessons

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ◽

10.1093/trstmh/trab028 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Darlington E Obaseki ◽

Iriagbonse I Osaigbovo ◽

Esohe O Ogboghodo ◽

Omokhoa Adeleye ◽

Obehi A Akoria ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Tertiary Hospital ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Scientific Journals ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Public Health Agencies ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Individual Healthcare

Abstract Africa was the last continent to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the discourse on Africa's response captured in scientific journals revolves around nations, public health agencies and organizations, but little is documented about how individual healthcare facilities have fared. This article reports the challenges faced in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria, including space constraints, diagnostic challenges, shortages in personal protective equipment and health worker infections. The opportunities and strengths that aided the response are also highlighted. The lessons learned will be useful to similar facilities. More information about health facility response at various levels is needed to comprehensively assess Africa's response to the pandemic.

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Worldwide 3D Printers against the New Coronavirus

Prosthesis ◽

10.3390/prosthesis2020009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 87-90 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Luca Fiorillo ◽

Teresa Leanza

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Three Dimensional Printing ◽

Digital World ◽

3D Printers ◽

Low Costs ◽

The Times ◽

Dimensional Printing

The pandemic caused by the new coronavirus has placed national health systems of different countries in difficulty, and has demonstrated the need for many types of personal protective equipment (PPE). Thanks to the advent of new three-dimensional printing technologies, it was possible to share print files (using stereolithography (stl)) quickly and easily, improve them cooperatively, and allow anyone who possessed the materials, a suitable 3D printer and these files, to print. The possibility of being able to print three-dimensional supports, or complete personal protective equipment has been of incredible help in the management of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). The times and the relatively low costs have allowed a wide diffusion of these devices, especially for the structures that needed them, mainly healthcare facilities. 3D printing, now includes different fields of application, and represents, thanks to the evolution of methods and printers, an important step towards the “digital world”.

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Safe Healthcare Facilities: A Systematic Review on the Costs of Establishing and Maintaining Environmental Health in Facilities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18020817 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 817

Author(s):

Darcy M. Anderson ◽

Ryan Cronk ◽

Donald Fejfar ◽

Emily Pak ◽

Michelle Cawley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Waste Management ◽

Vector Control ◽

Environmental Health ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Middle Income ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Low And Middle Income

A hygienic environment is essential to provide quality patient care and prevent healthcare-acquired infections. Understanding costs is important to budget for service delivery, but costs evidence for environmental health services (EHS) in healthcare facilities (HCFs) is lacking. We present the first systematic review to evaluate the costs of establishing, operating, and maintaining EHS in HCFs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We systematically searched for studies costing water, sanitation, hygiene, cleaning, waste management, personal protective equipment, vector control, laundry, and lighting in LMICs. Our search yielded 36 studies that reported costs for 51 EHS. There were 3 studies that reported costs for water, 3 for sanitation, 4 for hygiene, 13 for waste management, 16 for cleaning, 2 for personal protective equipment, 10 for laundry, and none for lighting or vector control. Quality of evidence was low. Reported costs were rarely representative of the total costs of EHS provision. Unit costs were infrequently reported. This review identifies opportunities to improve costing research through efforts to categorize and disaggregate EHS costs, greater dissemination of existing unpublished data, improvements to indicators to monitor EHS demand and quality necessary to contextualize costs, and development of frameworks to define EHS needs and essential inputs to guide future costing.

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Availability and use of personal protective equipment and satisfaction of healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Archives of Public Health ◽

10.1186/s13690-021-00668-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wakgari Deressa ◽

Alemayehu Worku ◽

Workeabeba Abebe ◽

Muluken Gizaw ◽

Wondwossen Amogne

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Addis Ababa ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Increased Risk

Abstract Background Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are at the frontline in the fight against COVID-19 and are at an increased risk of becoming infected with coronavirus. Risk of infection can be minimized by use of proper personal protective equipment (PPE). The aim of this study was to assess the availability and use of PPE, and satisfaction of HCPs with PPE in six public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1134 HCPs in June 2020. A systematic random sampling and consecutive sampling techniques were used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data and Chi-square test was used to assess the association between the groups. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with satisfaction of healthcare workers. Results The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 30.26 ± 6.43 year and 52.6% were females. Nurses constituted about 40% of the overall sample, followed by physicians (22.2%), interns (10.8%), midwives (10.3%) and others (16.7%). The majority (77%) of the HCPs reported that their hospital did not have adequate PPE. A critical shortage of N95 respirators was particularly reported, it only increased from 13 to 24% before and during COVID-19, respectively. The use of N95 increased from 9 to 21% before and during COVID-19, respectively. Almost 72% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the availability and use of PPE in their hospital. The independent predictors of the respondents’ satisfaction level about PPE were healthcare workers who reported that PPE was adequately available in the hospital (adjusted OR = 7.65, 95% CI:5.09–11.51), and preparedness to provide care to COVID-19 cases (adjusted OR = 2.07, 95% CI:1.42–3.03). Conclusions A critical shortage of appropriate PPE and high level of dissatisfaction with the availability and use of PPE were identified. Therefore, urgent efforts are needed to adequately supply the healthcare facilities with appropriate PPE to alleviate the challenges.

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Peculiarities of legal regulation of waste management of individual protection means in a pandemic condition

Economics. Finances. Law ◽

10.37634/efp.2020.11(3).1 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 5-8

Author(s):

Yelyzaveta STROHA ◽

Vladyslava KRAKOVA

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Human Life ◽

Legal Regulation ◽

Legal Responsibility ◽

Household Waste ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Special Equipment ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Infected People ◽

Medical Institutions

The paper is devoted to the problem of medical waste disposal, namely personal protective equipment. The authors point out that the spread of acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV–2 is not only a direct threat to human life and health, but also indirectly affects the environment of Ukraine. The paper notes that the disposal of personal protective equipment attracted attention only after the beginning of the pandemic, because their use by humans began in too large quantities. The paper also states that as a result of such use, a significant amount of hazardous waste is generated, which is not properly disposed of by companies that have the appropriate license and special equipment. The authors emphasize that there are gaps in the legal regulation of the treatment of personal protective equipment, as clear regulations are available only for PPE used by medical institutions. As for the protective equipment used by infected people in the home and referred by the legislator to the group of ordinary solid household waste, there are provisions for them only of a recommendatory nature. Therefore, their implementation will be provided only by conscious citizens, but we know that there are fewer of them in our country. The paper states that despite the established legal responsibility for health care institutions and licensees for non-compliance with regulations, which are clearly regulated by the legislation of Ukraine, the state does not adopt any effective mechanisms of influence to avoid their negative manifestations. The authors also note that in Ukraine, due to the lack of legal regulation of the treatment of PPE in everyday life, as a result, all of them are not disposed of properly and sent to regular landfills. Therefore, we propose ways to solve this problem, namely: to amend the Law “On Waste” and adopt a new bylaw to implement this law; create special containers to be used outside healthcare facilities.

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Personal protective equipment compliance among laundry workers in secondary and tertiary health facilities in Nigeria

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20190575 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 936

Author(s):

Emmanuel N. Omoijiade ◽

Lucky Evbuomwan

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Facility ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Benin City ◽

Occupational Risks ◽

Tertiary Healthcare ◽

Recommended Level

Background: Generally, personal protective equipment (PPE) should be used by healthcare workers, as they provide a physical barrier between hazards and the wearer. Exposure to occupational hazards in the laundry can be limited by the use of PPE such as barrier gowns, gloves, eyewear, foot coverings and face masks. This study provides information on the PPE compliance of the workers at the laundry, as this would prove useful in order to establish appropriate interventions to minimize occupational risks of workers in the healthcare laundries.Methods: This study was a comparative cross-sectional study. It was conducted in six hospitals with a laundry department in Benin-city, composed of one available tertiary healthcare facility and five secondary healthcare facilities. Questionnaire was administered to the workers concerning the availability and use of PPE.Results: The common PPE used were nose masks (7.9%), hand gloves (39.5%), safety boots (3.6%) and coveralls (84.5%). Respondents revealed that eye goggles or face shields and ear plugs or muffs were never provided for them.Conclusions: Compliance of respondents to PPE was not at an optimally recommended level. It is recommended that efforts be made to ensure that workers comply with PPE use, while providing all necessary protective equipment, which should first be assessed before selection and use.

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Chemical exposure reduction: Factors impacting on South African herbicide sprayers' personal protective equipment compliance and high risk work practices

Environmental Research ◽

10.1016/j.envres.2015.05.028 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 142 ◽

pp. 34-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Federico Andrade-Rivas ◽

Hanna-Andrea Rother

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

South African ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Chemical Exposure ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Work Practices ◽

Exposure Reduction ◽

Reduction Factors

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Functionalized photocatalytic nanocoatings for inactivating COVID-19 virus residing on surfaces of public and healthcare facilities

Coronaviruses ◽

10.2174/2666796702666210222110403 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 02 ◽

Author(s):

Manjunatha Channegowda

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Large Population ◽

Respiratory Illness ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

New Disease ◽

Polymeric Surfaces ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Novel Coronavirus

: The current ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has affected the large population across the globe by serious respiratory illness and death. Since the medicine for this new disease is yet to discover, the treatment options against pandemic COVID-19 are very limited and unsatisfactory. Further, the hospitals trying to treat the COVID-19 patients are majorly infected by this virus, as it sustain on the surfaces of inanimate objects for days. Therefore, hospitals have become hotspots for novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Till date millions of healthcare workers are infected in many countries, and several have died too. The non-availability of quality personal protective equipment (PPE) and the more duration of exposure with severe and critical COVID patients, have been a major factor for the infection in millions of healthcare workers. However, developing an effective medicine has remained challenging due to its unpredicted mutation rate. Here, this article proposes functionalized photocatalytic nanocoatings to destroy the COVID-19 virus, which can be applied on the surface of inanimate objects such as paper, cloth, glass, wood, ceramic, metallic, polymeric surfaces etc. With the supporting experimental results, various possible ways of killing the virus and its mechanism is discussed. This article provides new insights for developing nano solutions to address this COVID-19 issue.

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