New study shows which medical procedures pose COVID-19 risk to health-
care providers
Research review determines aerosol-generating procedures that require
enhanced personal protective equipment

Date:
October 13, 2020
Source:
University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Summary:
Autopsy, airway suctioning and cardiopulmonary resuscitation are
among the list of medical procedures that pose a risk of spreading
COVID-19 from a patient to their health-care provider by creating
aerosols, according to new research.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Autopsy, airway suctioning and cardiopulmonary resuscitation are among the
list of medical procedures that pose a risk of spreading COVID-19 from
a patient to their health-care provider by creating aerosols, according
to new research published in the journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research
by an international team of experts including occupational health,
preventive medicine and infectious disease specialists.


==========================================================================
The team, led by University of Alberta medicine professor Sebastian
Straube, carried out a systematic review of public health guidelines,
research papers and policy documents from around the globe to determine
which procedures are classified as aerosol-generating.

"What we sought to do was to understand which procedures generate aerosols
and therefore require a higher grade of personal protective equipment,"
said Straube, who also heads the preventive medicine division of the
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

"Where there is 80 per cent agreement from a number of different source documents, we are reasonably confident that, yes, the classification of
these procedures as aerosol-generating is accurate." Straube recommended
that further research be done on the short list of procedures for which
they found no consensus, such as taking throat swabs.

The team of 19 Canadian, British, American and other researchers includes renowned Oxford University primary care expert Trisha Greenhalgh and
first author Tanya Jackson, Straube's research associate. They came
together to share their expertise at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic
and have published rapid reviews on the efficacy of respirator masks
versus standard surgical masks, eye protection and shoe covers.



==========================================================================
"We are providing a summary of the evidence to inform policy-making
decisions and guideline development," Straube said.

An aerosol is a suspension of fine solid or liquid particles in air,
Straube said. "Larger particles settle in a reasonably short distance,
and are referred to as 'droplets' in the infection control context," the
paper states. "Smaller particles can travel as aerosols on air currents, remaining in the air for longer and distributing over a wide area."
Straube said the goal is to prevent health-care workers from becoming
infected with COVID-19, both to protect them from severe disease as
individuals and to maintain staffing levels in health-care systems during
the pandemic.

Health-care workers who perform aerosol-generating procedures should wear filtering facepiece respirators, known as N-95 masks in North America,
Straube said, along with other personal protective equipment (PPE)
such as gloves, gowns and eye protection.

"PPE is typically displayed at the bottom rung of the hierarchy of hazard controls," Straube said.

"Elimination of the hazard or substitution as well as engineering and administrative approaches to hazard control should also be considered."
The U of A contribution to the research was funded by a grant from the
Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Alberta_Faculty_of_Medicine_&_Dentistry.

Original written by Gillian Rutherford. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tanya Jackson, Danika Deibert, Graeme Wyatt, Quentin Durand-Moreau,
Anil
Adisesh, Kamlesh Khunti, Sachin Khunti, Simon Smith, Xin Hui
S Chan, Lawrence Ross, Nia Roberts, Elaine Toomey, Trisha
Greenhalgh, Isheeta Arora, Susannah M Black, Jonathan Drake,
Nandana Syam, Robert Temple, Sebastian Straube. Classification of
aerosol-generating procedures: a rapid systematic review. BMJ
Open Respiratory Research, 2020; 7 (1): e000730 DOI:
10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000730 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013134302.htm

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