Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Paolo Emilio Santoro, Ivan Borrelli, Maria Rosaria Gualano, Ilaria Proietti, Nevena Skroza, Maria Francesca Rossi, Carlotta Amantea, Alessandra Daniele, Walter Ricciardi, Concetta Potenza, Umberto Moscato
Summary: During the COVID-19 pandemic, prolonged usage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) among healthcare workers led to an increase in dermatological reactions, especially among females and nurses or midwives. This study contributes to the assessment of the issue and aims to develop better prevention strategies to improve the well-being of healthcare workers and reduce the impact of dermatological adverse reactions to PPEs.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Review
Polymer Science
Alireza Saidi, Chantal Gauvin, Safa Ladhari, Phuong Nguyen-Tri
Summary: Smart textile technologies can help address thermal stress issues in workplaces, enhancing wearer comfort and safety to reduce the risk of accidents. By using smart protective equipment, performance and efficiency of workers can be improved.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Francisco Martin-Rodriguez, Raul Lopez-Izquierdo, Raquel M. Portillo Rubiales, Laura N. Fadrique Millan, Virginia Carbajosa Rodriguez, Ancor Sanz-Garcia, Guillermo Ortega Rabbione, Begona Polonio-Lopez, Miguel angel Castro Villamor, Jose L. Martin-Conty
Summary: This study found that blood creatinine level can serve as a good indicator for predicting the appearance of headaches in healthcare workers after wearing PPE for four hours in a COVID-19 unit.
JOURNAL OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Achilleas Mina, Antreas Lanitis, Pavlos Alexandros Dimitriou, Harris Partaourides, Pericles Pericleous
Summary: The proper use of high-visibility safety apparel can increase conspicuity and reduce accident rates, with color contrast being a key factor affecting daytime conspicuity. This paper presents a methodology for selecting the most effective HVSA color for a particular worksite through image analysis techniques, which was experimentally validated to show a 27% reduction in detection time when the recommended color was used.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Ana Bonell, Behzad Nadjm, Tida Samateh, Jainaba Badjie, Robyn Perry-Thomas, Karen Forrest, Andrew M. Prentice, Neil S. Maxwell
Summary: The study evaluated the effects of pre-cooling and per-cooling methods on thermal strain, thermal comfort, and cognitive function in healthcare workers managing acutely unwell patients. Results showed that pre-cooling with ice slurry ingestion and wearing an ice-vest outside PPE significantly improved thermal strain and thermal comfort, while no significant difference was observed in cognitive function.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Textiles
Holly Morris, Naomi Forrester-Soto, Peter Ogrodnik
Summary: Health care-associated infection is the most frequent adverse event during patient care, with a prevalence ranging from 5.7% to 19.1% internationally. Despite the debate regarding textiles as a source of infection, increasing evidence shows the persistence of microbes on textiles and the growing interest in developing antimicrobial textiles, particularly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of antiviral coating on textiles after laundering at healthcare standards and to evaluate the suitability of current testing methods for judging treatment effectiveness. Standardization and suitability of test methods in this field of technical textiles still require significant work.
JOURNAL OF THE TEXTILE INSTITUTE
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Maria Bartolomeu, Marcia Braz, Pedro Costa, Joao Duarte, Carla Pereira, Adelaide Almeida
Summary: This study investigates the use of UV irradiation systems to disinfect phage phi 6 virus and finds that both systems effectively inactivate the virus. The effectiveness of inactivation varies depending on the material of surfaces and personal protective equipment, with glass needing the least time for inactivation and disposable surgical and FFP2 masks showing the best performance.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
G. Satya Sree, B. Sathish Mohan, B. Jagan Mohan Reddy, K. V. B. Ranjitha
Summary: Ternary composites of NiO-ZnO-RGO (NZR) were synthesized through the hydrothermal approach and investigated for their structural, morphological, optical properties. The composites showed potential for Cd (II) removal by adsorption and exhibited enhanced antimicrobial performance on Vibrio cholarae and Shigelli flexneri. The results suggest that hydrothermally synthesized NZR composites can be effectively used for cleaning polluted water.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY-JMR&T
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
D. Doos, P. Barach, N. J. Alves, L. Falvo, A. Bona, M. Moore, D. D. Cooper, R. Lefort, R. Ahmed
Summary: The practice of reusing PPE poses high levels of risk for accidental contamination by healthcare workers. Storing a reused N95 respirator on a tabletop was found to be a safer alternative than using a paper bag for storage.
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Xuhua Liu, Jinlei Miao, Qiang Fan, Wenxiao Zhang, Xingwei Zuo, Mingwei Tian, Shifeng Zhu, Xueji Zhang, Lijun Qu
Summary: The research proposes a smart textile with a 3D conductive network composed of interconnected AgNWs and MXene nanosheets, which shows excellent durability, high sensitivity, temperature visualization, and solar-powered temperature regulation functions. This multifunctional smart textile holds great promise for next-generation personal healthcare and thermal management wearable systems.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Dermatology
Nkemjika Abiakam, Peter Worsley, Hemalatha Jayabal, Kay Mitchell, Michaela Jones, Jacqui Fletcher, Fran Spratt, Dan Bader
Summary: The study found that prolonged use of personal protective equipment (PPE) can lead to various adverse skin reactions among healthcare workers, particularly in different facial locations such as the bridge of the nose and ears. Improvement in guidelines for PPE usage to protect skin health is recommended, along with modifications to PPE designs to accommodate different face shapes and select appropriate materials to enhance device safety.
INTERNATIONAL WOUND JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Johnny Sik Chun Lo, Walid Daoud, Chi Yan Tso, Hau Him Lee, Irum Firdous, Bhaskar Jyoti Deka, Carol Sze Ki Lin
Summary: This study investigates the fabrication of medical textile from polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymer via electrospinning process. By optimizing the solvent systems and electrospinning parameters, defect-free nanofiber textiles with high filtration efficiency were achieved.
SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY
(2022)
Review
Nursing
Liu Ying, Jiali Chen, Peifang Li, Haiying Fu, Ning Ning, Chen Hong
Summary: This study evaluated the quality of literature on the prevention of skin damage caused by personal protective equipment among healthcare workers and summarized the best-evidence practice strategies. A total of 10 qualified studies, including guidelines, practice recommendations, and expert consensus, were included. Thirty best-evidence practice strategies were identified, covering cleaning, moisturizing, prophylactic dressings, and other aspects. However, the literature on this topic is limited and of slightly low quality, indicating the need for more high-quality research to focus on healthcare workers' health beyond just skin issues.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Luis Alberto Breda Mascarenhas, Bruna Aparecida Souza Machado, Leticia de Alencar Pereira Rodrigues, Katharine Valeria Saraiva Hodel, Alex Alisson Bandeira Santos, Leone Peter Correia da Silva Andrade, Roberto Badaro
Summary: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new device for instantaneous disinfection of contaminated surfaces has been developed. This study aimed to evaluate the perception of professionals regarding the use of this device for decontamination of personal protective equipment before doffing. The results showed that the majority of professionals considered the disinfection chamber as a safe and important protective barrier for healthcare professionals, suggesting its potential as an additional tool for protecting professionals working directly with COVID-19 patients.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Alan B. Dogan, Katherine E. Dabkowski, Jennifer L. Cadnum, Curtis J. Donskey, Horst A. von Recum
Summary: Face masks are proven to be the best public health tool for preventing transmission of airborne pathogens. Adding q(PDM) to fabric can turn cotton, polypropylene, and polyester into pathogen resistant materials, effectively inactivating bacteria in both liquid culture and aerosolized droplets. The production of q(PDM) is cost-effective and scalable.
ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)