Long-term care providers in short supply of personal protective equipment can use a new two-step disinfection method that allows them to clean and reuse PPE up to five times.
Researchers in Canada and New Zealand developed the method that calls for using either ultraviolet (UV) light, dry heat treatments or chemical disinfection on the equipment. The method could be implemented by providers “in weeks or even days,” according to Bill Anderson, an engineering professor at the University of Waterloo.
Under the system, providers would throw away any visibly soiled PPE that was previously used. Equipment that hasn’t been visibly soiled should be stored for at least four days to allow for the natural death of the virus.
After the four days, fragile equipment like N95 respirators should then be treated with UV light to kill any remaining virus. Equipment like masks, gowns and visors — depending on the material they’re made of — can either be cleaned with UV light or a chemical disinfectant after the four days.
“Instead of relying on a single method, we would use time and its natural disinfecting effect, plus a more aggressive treatment approach to finish off the process,” Anderson added.
Researchers said the method could help alleviate supply issues amid PPE shortages facing long-term care and other providers.
“This method could be rapidly implemented in other healthcare settings, while testing of each method is undertaken, increasing the frontline supply of PPE, and avoiding many of the upstream issues of supply chain disruption currently being faced,” the authors wrote in a paper outlining the system.
The full paper, which is not yet peer reviewed, is available online.
