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Guideline
. 2013 Nov;85(3):170-82.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2013.06.020. Epub 2013 Sep 17.

Guidance on the use of respiratory and facial protection equipment

J E Coia  1 , L Ritchie, A Adisesh, C Makison Booth, C Bradley, D Bunyan, G Carson, C Fry, P Hoffman, D Jenkins, N Phin, B Taylor, J S Nguyen-Van-Tam, M Zuckerman; Healthcare Infection Society Working Group on Respiratory and Facial Protection
Affiliations
Guideline

Guidance on the use of respiratory and facial protection equipment

J E Coia et al. J Hosp Infect. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Infectious micro-organisms may be transmitted by a variety of routes, and some may be spread by more than one route. Respiratory and facial protection is required for those organisms that are usually transmitted via the droplet/airborne route, or when airborne particles have been artificially created, such as during 'aerosol-generating procedures'. A range of personal protective equipment that provides different degrees of facial and respiratory protection is available. It is apparent from the recent experiences with severe acute respiratory syndrome and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza that healthcare workers may have difficulty in choosing the correct type of facial and respiratory protection in any given clinical situation. To address this issue, the Scientific Development Committee of the Healthcare Infection Society established a short-life working group to develop guidance. The guidance is based upon a review of the literature, which is published separately, and expert consensus.

Keywords: Aerosol-generating procedure; Airborne transmission; Droplet transmission; Facial protection equipment; Filtering face piece; Personal protective equipment; Respiratory infection; Respiratory protection equipment.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram for the selection of respiratory and facial protection. FFP, filtering face piece; AGP, aerosol-generating procedure. a Airborne (aerosol) spread refers to inhaled infectious particles small enough to penetrate down to, and be retained in, the deepest part of the lungs (alveoli). These particles are <5 μm in size, too small to be seen by eye and can remain suspended in the air for prolonged periods of time. This is in contrast to droplet spread, which is associated with larger particles (>5 μm) that do not readily penetrate the lower respiratory tract, but may cause infection by impacting directly upon a mucosal surface or conjunctiva. Table I describes the transmission route for a range of pathogenic micro-organisms spread wholly or partly by airborne (aerosol) or droplet routes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
How to don and fit check filtering face piece (FFP) respiratory protection correctly (adapted from UK Department of Health and HSE poster accessible via UK government web archive at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_110787.pdf).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correctly fitted filtering face piece respiratory protection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Bunyan D., Ritchie L., Jenkins D., Coia J.E. Respiratory and facial protection: a critical review of recent literature. J Hosp Infect. 2013;85:165–169. - PMC - PubMed
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MeSH terms