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Volume 13, Number 10—October 2007
Research

Personal Protective Equipment and Antiviral Drug Use during Hospitalization for Suspected Avian or Pandemic Influenza1

Ashwin Swaminathan*, Rhea Martin*, Sandi Gamon*, Craig Aboltins†, Eugene Athan‡, George Braitberg*, Michael G. Catton§, Louise Cooley¶, Dominic E. Dwyer#, Deidre Edmonds*, Damon P. Eisen**, Kelly Hosking*, Andrew J. Hughes‡, Paul D. Johnson*††, Andrew V Maclean‡‡, Mary O’Reilly‡‡, S. Erica Peters§§, Rhonda L. Stuart¶¶, Rodney Moran##, and M. Lindsay Grayson*††***Comments to Author 
Author affiliations: *Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; †St. Vincent’s Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ‡Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; §Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ¶Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; #Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; **Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ††University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ‡‡Box Hill Hospital–Eastern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; §§Western Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ¶¶Monash Medical Centre–Southern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ##Department of Human Services, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ***Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;

Main Article

Table 1

WHO Recommendations for HCW barrier precautions, dependent on type of exposure*†

HCW activity Recommended PPE set
Close contact (<1 m) with potential API-infected patient within or outside of the isolation room or area Gloves, gown, N95 mask (or equivalent particulate respirator), eye protection
Cleaning Gloves, either gown or apron
Patient transport within healthcare facilities Gown, gloves
Specimen transport and processing Not defined except to use “safe handling practices”; interpreted as use of gloves (minimum) and gown if opening specimen bag.

*WHO, World Health Organization; HCW, healthcare worker; PPE, personal protective equipment; API, avian or pandemic influenza.
†Derived from (7).

Main Article

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Main Article

1This research was presented in part at the 47th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Chicago, Illinois, USA, September 17-20, 2007.

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