Because people can catch the new H1N1 swine flu by inhaling the virus, health-care workers who deal with flu patients should wear properly fitted N95 disposable respirator masks, a new report from the Institute of Medicine advises.
These masks are not the same as loosely fitted surgical masks. N95 respirators fit tightly around the mouth and nose and have filters that can block about 95 percent of the flu virus, according to the report released Thursday.
Related Articles
- Top 13 Flu Myths (webmd.com)
- A by-the-numbers look at swine flu (cbc.ca)
- Health officials plan for next flu season with H1N1 history (sfgate.com)
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under the CDC, which is under the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is mandated by the OSH Act of 1970 to evaluate and issue certificate letters of approval to recognized NIOSH approval holders who submit respiratory protective device technologies for federal government approval. NIOSH evaluates the proprietary technologies and awards “protection” ratings to the respirator technology. The user and the manufacturer of the respirator technology are then required to ensure the “approved respirator systems configuration” is inspected, fit tested, donned, user seal checked, doffed, and either disposed of or cleaned-sanitized in the use cycle of the respirator. Filtering Facepiece Respirators (FFR) also known as particulate respirators or just simply “N95” or “P100” are what this article is referring to. Recently the HHS FDA began clearing FFR technologies for use as both a NIOSH-approved N95 and a FDA “cleared” surgical mask/face mask/scrubs mask.