Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33008865›Full record

ReviewGlobal health, science and practice2020

Mask Reuse in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Creating an Inexpensive and Scalable Ultraviolet System for Filtering Facepiece Respirator Decontamination.

Rachel M Gilbert, Michael J Donzanti, Daniel J Minahan, Jasmine Shirazi, Christine L Hatem, Brielle Hayward-Piatkovskyi, Allyson M Dang, Katherine M Nelson, Kimberly L Bothi, Jason P Gleghorn

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Global health, science and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Rachel M GilbertDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Michael J DonzantiDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Daniel J MinahanDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Jasmine ShiraziDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Christine L HatemDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Brielle Hayward-PiatkovskyiDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Allyson M DangDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Katherine M NelsonDepartment of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Kimberly L BothiDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Jason P GleghornDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA. gleghorn@udel.edu.
University of Delaware · US

Funding

Pressure in lung development and congenital diaphragmatic herniaR01HL133163 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · PI GLEGHORN, JASON PAUL · 2017 to 2021
$1.9M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL133163
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

As the current COVID-19 pandemic illustrates, not all hospitals and other patient care facilities are equipped with enough personal protective equipment to meet the demand in a crisis. Health care workers around the world use filtering facepiece respirators to protect themselves and their patients, yet during this global pandemic they are forced to reuse what are intended to be single-use masks. This poses a significant risk to these health care workers along with the people they are trying to protect. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) has been validated previously as a method to effectively decontaminate these masks between use. However, not all facilities have access to the expensive commercial ultraviolet type C (UV-C) lamp decontamination equipment required for UVGI. UV-C bulbs are sitting idle in biosafety cabinets at universities and research facilities around the world that have been shuttered to slow the spread of COVID-19. These bulbs may also be available in existing medical centers where infectious diseases are commonly treated. We developed a method to modify existing light fixtures or create custom light fixtures that are compatible with new or existing UV-C bulbs. This system is scalable; can be created for less than US$50, on site and at the point of need; and leverages resources that are currently untapped and sitting unused in public and private research facilities during the pandemic. The freely accessible design can be easily modified for use around the world. Health care facilities can obtain this potentially lifesaving UVGI resource with minimal funds by collaborating with research facilities to obtain the UV-C meters and UV-C bulbs if they are unavailable from other sources. Although mask reuse is not ideal, we must do what we can in emergency situations to protect our health care workers responding to the pandemic and the communities they serve.

Indexed as

BetacoronavirusRespiratory Protective DevicesUltraviolet RaysCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19DecontaminationHumansPandemicsPneumonia, ViralSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID33008865
PMCPMC7541107
OpenAlexW3085717392

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.