Proteção Facial e Respiratória: Perspetivas Atuais no Contexto da Pandemia por COVID-19

Abstract

The new SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is an example of an international public health emergency, which is associated with considerable social and economic challenges. At the healthcare level there is the risk that nosocomial outbreaks can be local amplifiers. Adequate infection control practices are of critical importance, which include proper use of personal protective equipment. This equipment must be appropriate to the pathogen transmission route that, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, occurs through droplet and contact routes. The infected individual, when talking, coughing or sneezing, spreads droplets containing the virus, directly contaminating other individuals within one to two meters of distance, as well as the surrounding environment. Airborne transmission may occur when aerosol-generating procedures are performed. Concerning respiratory protection, there is currently weak evidence that the use of respirators provides better protection than surgical masks for SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses (with the exception of aerosol-generating procedures, in which case the use of a respirator is recommended). Eye protection should be guaranteed whenever there is a risk of splashes, droplets oraerosols. The use of different, or higher than necessary, level of personal protective equipment, for the transmission route of the agent, is a form of misuse and can affect its supply for situations when it is clearly indicated. The adequate provision of protective equipment, as well as training of healthcare professionals in its correct use, is highly recommended to ensure safety of care.

SARS-CoV-2 and Health Care Worker Protection in Low-Risk Settings: a Review of Modes of Transmission and a Novel Airborne Model Involving Inhalable Particles

“…Most authorities agree with the WHO recommendations for droplet and contact precautions with COVID-19 patients. In the United Kingdom (126), Canada (127), France (128), Switzerland (30), Spain (129), Portugal (130), and Australia (131), medical masks are indicated in most situations and respirators are required only in high-risk settings involving AGPs. Recently, the WHO has acknowledged that "short-range aerosol transmission, particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out" but specifies that the significance of COVID-19 airborne transmission has not been convincingly demonstrated and requires further research (1).…”

Construction and validation of checklist for disinfecting ambulances to transport Covid-19 patients

“…In this sense, such fact requires the use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), in addition to decontamination of the ambulance, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) (15)(16) , since, it is known of the genesis of aerosols in procedures that may be performed in ambulances, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, aspiration of secretions in the airways, oxygen therapy and endotracheal intubation, procedures that put at risk the workforce in the transport of Covid-19 patients (16)(17) .…”

Comunicação do enfermeiro no cuidado ao parto: ótica de mulheres surdas

“…Todavia, a pandemia por COVID-19 é uma nova realidade sanitária, na qual o uso de equipamento de proteção individual, especialmente de máscaras, durante o cuidado à saúde, tornou-se extremamente necessária (Peres, Boléo-Tomé & Santos, 2020), fato que dificulta a possibilidade da leitura labial, referida como estratégia comunicativa utilizada por surdas para estabelecer a comunicação com o enfermeiro.…”