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Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms
BACKGROUND: Ambulatory clinics attend to COVID-19 patients, often in spaces with less than ideal ventilation. Testing and treatments can often include aerosol-generating procedures. Portable high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration units have been used to remove airborne contaminants in the...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc.
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8408652/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34390799 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.08.003 |
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author | Pirkle, Stephen Bozarth, Sandy Robinson, Natasha Hester, Wanda Wagner, LaurieAnn Broome, Sabrina Allen, Kim Mannepalli, Supriya |
author_facet | Pirkle, Stephen Bozarth, Sandy Robinson, Natasha Hester, Wanda Wagner, LaurieAnn Broome, Sabrina Allen, Kim Mannepalli, Supriya |
author_sort | Pirkle, Stephen |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Ambulatory clinics attend to COVID-19 patients, often in spaces with less than ideal ventilation. Testing and treatments can often include aerosol-generating procedures. Portable high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration units have been used to remove airborne contaminants in these areas. METHODS: A particle counter was used to evaluate the effectiveness of portable HEPA filtration units when a proxy airborne contaminant (powder) was actuated into the air. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Airborne Contaminant Removal table served as a basis for initial particle readings at 6 minutes. RESULTS: Percent decrease was calculated post powder actuation at the 6-minute and 12-minute mark. There was a statistically significant decrease in smaller particles at the 6-minute and 12-minute mark when the HEPA filtration units were used. CONCLUSION: As an adjunct infection control intervention, portable HEPA filtration units can make outpatient exam rooms safer for patients and staff by decreasing cumulative airborne particles. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8408652 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-84086522021-09-01 Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms Pirkle, Stephen Bozarth, Sandy Robinson, Natasha Hester, Wanda Wagner, LaurieAnn Broome, Sabrina Allen, Kim Mannepalli, Supriya Am J Infect Control Major Article BACKGROUND: Ambulatory clinics attend to COVID-19 patients, often in spaces with less than ideal ventilation. Testing and treatments can often include aerosol-generating procedures. Portable high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration units have been used to remove airborne contaminants in these areas. METHODS: A particle counter was used to evaluate the effectiveness of portable HEPA filtration units when a proxy airborne contaminant (powder) was actuated into the air. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Airborne Contaminant Removal table served as a basis for initial particle readings at 6 minutes. RESULTS: Percent decrease was calculated post powder actuation at the 6-minute and 12-minute mark. There was a statistically significant decrease in smaller particles at the 6-minute and 12-minute mark when the HEPA filtration units were used. CONCLUSION: As an adjunct infection control intervention, portable HEPA filtration units can make outpatient exam rooms safer for patients and staff by decreasing cumulative airborne particles. Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. 2021-12 2021-08-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8408652/ /pubmed/34390799 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.08.003 Text en © 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active. |
spellingShingle | Major Article Pirkle, Stephen Bozarth, Sandy Robinson, Natasha Hester, Wanda Wagner, LaurieAnn Broome, Sabrina Allen, Kim Mannepalli, Supriya Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms |
title | Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms |
title_full | Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms |
title_fullStr | Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms |
title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms |
title_short | Evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable HEPA filtration units in small exam rooms |
title_sort | evaluating and contextualizing the efficacy of portable hepa filtration units in small exam rooms |
topic | Major Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8408652/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34390799 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.08.003 |
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