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COVID-19 Articles: Infographic

Reduce, Reuse… Reprocess? Strategies for Extended Use of N95 Masks

Wanderer, Jonathan P. MD, MPhil; Nathan, Naveen MD

Author Information

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine ([email protected])

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine ([email protected])

The Infographic is composed by Jonathan P. Wanderer, MD, MPhil, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine ([email protected]), and Naveen Nathan, MD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine ([email protected]). Illustration by Naveen Nathan, MD.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000005300

Among the many challenges that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought has been the lack of adequate supplies for N95 and similarly rated filtering face piece respirators. Lack of supply has led to many approaches in reusing and reprocessing these key pieces of personal protective equipment. In this infographic, we describe a number of approaches for reusing N95 masks that are supported by experimental data and also review methods of decontamination that are not recommended.

    References

    1. Cassorla L. Decontamination and reuse of N95 filtering face respirators: where do we stand?. Anesth Analg. 2021;132:2–14.
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