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. 2023 Mar;51(3):349-350.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.08.001. Epub 2022 Aug 6.

Is the whole-day use of surgical masks during the coronavirus pandemic increasing the contamination of surgeons' masks?

Ricardo Abreu-Irizarry  1 , Norberto J Torres-Lugo  2 , Lucas De Virgilio-Salgado  1 , Gabriel Echegaray-Casalduc  1 , David Deliz-Jimenez  1 , José Martinez-Ramos  3 , Sebastian Estarellas-Cobian  3 , Norman Ramírez  4 , Christian Foy-Parilla  1
Affiliations

Is the whole-day use of surgical masks during the coronavirus pandemic increasing the contamination of surgeons' masks?

Ricardo Abreu-Irizarry et al. Am J Infect Control. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Evaluating the impact of surgical masks' conservation practices during the Coronavirus Disease pandemic in the bioburden of the operating room seems imperative, as they play a critical role against this pandemic. We demonstrate that surgeons' masks tend to be contaminated due to the conservation techniques to maximize protection equipment during the pandemic. Health institutions should highlight the importance of surgical mask exchange to avoid increments in surgical mask contamination.

Keywords: Bioburden; COVID-19; Operating room; Reuse.

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