IOM report
Looks like it will be later today or tomorrow before we know the details of the IOM recommendations to CDC regarding personal protective equipment for care of patients with suspected novel H1N1. I’ll wait to comment until those details are available. If, as expected, IOM supports the current CDC position, it will be interesting to see how the state departments of public health will react, at least in states that have gone with the WHO guidance until now. It will also be interesting to see if future CDC guidance for seasonal flu includes recommendations for N95 masks—or will we have to individually assess each individual influenza strain in the future, to determine exactly what PPE is required?
I agree that it will be interesting to see how the N95 requirement plays out. We have a large stockpile but will burn through it very quickly if all HCW contacts with RTI patients require an N95. What will we do when a highly virulent strain appears and we have run out of N95s? We do have reusable N95s that can be disinfected that will come in handy. I wonder if this requirement could be relaxed as the vaccinated proportion of HCW exceeds zero percent? One can dream.
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