Possible Opportunities in Face Mask Manufacturing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has been primarily regarded as a respiratory disease, and until a safer and effective treatment or vaccine becomes available, the prevention of COVID-19 may continue through interventions based on non-pharmaceutical measures such as maintaining of physical distances and use of personal protective equipment like facemasks, etc. Therefore, an attempt was made in this study to explore the drawbacks with the presently available facemasks for protection from COVID-19 viruses in the state of Odisha in India, and also to explore the possible opportunities for further development of these facemasks. The associated discomforts; strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of existing facemasks in Odisha; possible opportunities for “Make in India” of these facemasks; along with safer use have been analyzed with the help of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach followed by MICMAC analysis.

MORTALITY RATES AND INFECTION WITH THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS AMONG MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN KAZAKHSTAN AND AROUND THE WORLD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

В сфере здравоохранения во избежание стагнации во время пандемии необходимо максимально обезопасить медицинский персонал и проводить большое количество профилактических мероприятий. Как доказано во многих научных статьях, главной мерой защиты медицинских работников от заражения и смерти является не только полное и своевременное обеспечение средствами индивидуальной защиты, но и подготовка специальных специалистов, которые научат, как правильно их применять. In the healthcare sector, in order to avoid stagnation during a pandemic, it is necessary to protect medical personnel as much as possible and carry out a large number of preventive measures. As proved in many scientific articles, the main measure to protect medical workers from infection and death is not only the full and timely provision of personal protective equipment, but also the training of special specialists who will teach how to use them correctly.

Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection with Ageusia after Two mRNA Vaccine Doses

To raise awareness about preventive measures in COVID-19 pandemic, even though fully vaccinated. Although recent trials showed high efficacy of vaccines in preventing symptomatic infections, there are some individuals experiencing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this case report, a fully vaccinated young dental practitioner experienced symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection 55 days postvaccination with BNT162b2 Pfizer vaccine with evident ageusia. Diagnostic swabs were performed and used for viral genome sequencing. The patient fully recovered 15 days after diagnosis. Loss of smell and taste, together with nasal congestion were the main reported symptoms. The use of personal protective equipment prevented spread of infection in patients and co-workers. With the increase of people being fully vaccinated, it is still necessary to follow infection preventive protocols by correctly applying personal protective equipment. Although high efficacy has been proved, some individuals may still be vulnerable to symptomatic infection and new guidelines and markers should be adopted and investigated to find out patients for whom vaccination may not determine full immunization.

Hubungan penggunaan alat pelindung diri (APD) dengan kesehatan mata pada pekerja pengelasan. Studi kasus di PT. X, Aceh Besar

Background: Welding workshop is one of the workplaces that have the risk and danger of accidents and the emergence of occupational diseases. The use of personal protective equipment is very important for workers to avoid work accidents. The obligation to wear and follow orders to always use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been set in almost all companies (PT), but there are still workers who have not used personal protective equipment in the welding process.Objective: This study aims to determine the relationship between the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) with eye health in welding workers at company X, Aceh Besar District.Method: This type of research is descriptive-analytic to determine the relationship between the use of eye personal protective equipment (PPE) with eye health in welding workers at company X, Aceh Besar district in 2020. The samples in this study were 15 welding workers. Data collection techniques used are checklists and questionnaires, using interview and observation techniques. Data processing includes the stages of editing, coding, tabulating and entry. Analysis using Chi-Square statistical test at a significance level of 95%.Results: The results of the study have shown that 40% of respondents use personal protective equipment. The healthy eye response was 44.43%. There is a relationship between the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) with eye health in welding workers at company X, Aceh Besar District (p= 0.014).Conclusion: The use of personal protective equipment has a very significant relationship to the safety and eye health of welding workers.

Personal protective equipment use during COVID-19 pandemic and associated waste management in households in Sri Lanka

The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is compulsory when accessing public places due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. Facemasks are the most common PPE used, however, some people use face shields and gloves. Frequent hand sanitizing is also recommended aiming to control the spread of the disease. All these activities generate a large amount of plastic waste daily. In Sri Lanka, it is estimated that 12 million facemasks are used daily, while 0.22 million gloves and 0.29 million face shields are used. Out of 12 million facemasks, 10 million are surgical or N95 masks. In addition, 0.79 million sanitizer bottles are used in a day, leaving empty plastic bottles. The most common method of disposing of facemasks in Sri Lanka is open burning by the users at their homes (55%). The rate of burning is comparatively low for other PPE. Although nearly 30% of people handover used facemasks to the municipal solid waste collection, there are no special precautions taken for separate collection and safe disposal. Guidelines are in place for handling healthcare waste generated in households under self-quarantine, but they are not applied for PPE waste generated in other households. Major drawbacks in PPE waste management is identified and mitigation measures were proposed. The estimate of waste plastics generated due to PPE use is 88.5 tonnes per day in the country. Energy recovery via pyrolysis may be a viable alternative to landfilling and affordable for developing countries.

Contamination of personal protective equipment during COVID-19 autopsies

Confronted with an emerging infectious disease at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community faced concerns regarding the safety of autopsies on those who died of the disease. This attitude has changed, and autopsies are now recognized as indispensable tools for understanding COVID-19, but the true risk of infection to autopsy staff is nevertheless still debated. To clarify the rate of SARS-CoV-2 contamination in personal protective equipment (PPE), swabs were taken at nine points in the PPE of one physician and one assistant after each of 11 full autopsies performed at four centers. Swabs were also obtained from three minimally invasive autopsies (MIAs) conducted at a fifth center. Lung/bronchus swabs of the deceased served as positive controls, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR. In 9 of 11 full autopsies, PPE samples tested RNA positive through PCR, accounting for 41 of the 198 PPE samples taken (21%). The main contaminated items of the PPE were gloves (64% positive), aprons (50% positive), and the tops of shoes (36% positive) while the fronts of safety goggles, for example, were positive in only 4.5% of the samples, and all the face masks were negative. In MIAs, viral RNA was observed in one sample from a glove but not in other swabs. Infectious virus isolation in cell culture was performed on RNA-positive swabs from the full autopsies. Of all the RNA-positive PPE samples, 21% of the glove samples, taken in 3 of 11 full autopsies, tested positive for infectious virus. In conclusion, PPE was contaminated with viral RNA in 82% of autopsies. In 27% of autopsies, PPE was found to be contaminated even with infectious virus, representing a potential risk of infection to autopsy staff. Adequate PPE and hygiene measures, including appropriate waste deposition, are therefore essential to ensure a safe work environment.