Reutilización limitada y uso extendido de mascarillas de media-alta filtración

AIM: Personal protective equipment (PPE), including respirators, is essential in a pandemic like COVID-19, which has required, on many occasions, the reuse of material due to its shortage. The aim of this review is to summarize available evidence on the reuse and extended use of filtering facepiece respirator. METHOD: Scoping review. Search through natural language in PUBMED and Centers, Agencies and Organizations for Disease Control. Limited to articles published between 2010-2020 in English and Spanish. RESULTS: 83 articles were located, 14 were selected, plus 5 recommendations. The topics included in this study are classified in 7 sections: expiration, extended use and reuse of masks, handling techniques, sealing, physical-psychological effects and compliance, contamination and decontamination of respirators. CONCLUSIONS: The reuse of masks is not recommended by official organizations or manufacturers, and is only accepted in extraordinary cases, such as pandemics. The studies are characterized by having small samples, using different models of respirators adjusting their recommendation to the model.