Premium
The importance of the minimum dosage necessary for UVC decontamination of N95 respirators during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Narla Shanthi,
Lyons Alexis B.,
Kohli Indermeet,
Torres Angeli E.,
ParksMiller Angela,
Ozog David M.,
Hamzavi Iltefat H.,
Lim Henry W.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
photodermatology, photoimmunology and photomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.736
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1600-0781
pISSN - 0905-4383
DOI - 10.1111/phpp.12562
Subject(s) - respirator , covid-19 , pandemic , human decontamination , virology , medicine , outbreak , chemistry , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , organic chemistry , pathology
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a press report highlighting the severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is endangering healthcare workers worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.(1) To meet this urgent need, healthcare institutions across the world have begun to utilize the germicidal properties of ultraviolet C (UVC) to decontaminate N95 respirators so that they can be reused.(2) It is clearly crucial that the dose of UVC delivered is sufficient to kill any viable SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of the COVID-19 pandemic, that may be present on the respirators.