Authors of N95 study retract findings
Talk about throwing a monkey wrench into the swine-flu preparedness works.
The authors of a key study on N95 respirator use for H1N1 influenza protection have retracted their conclusion about favoring N95 masks over surgical or procedure masks, according to a October 31 MedPage Today article.
Originally the study from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, conducted on Chinese healthcare workers found that N95 respirators were effective and offered better protection than standard surgical masks. MedPage now reports: “After a reanalysis prompted by questions from peer reviewers, the findings no longer demonstrated a significant benefit for the N95 respirators,” reported Holly Seale, PhD, of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
The news was presented at the annual meeting of the Infection Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and came as a shock to experts at the conference, according to MedPage.
The Australian study was part of the recommendations the Institute of Medicine (IOM) made to the CDC for its interim guideline which posted on October 14.
Peer reviewers faulted the Australian study for not selecting the control group of nine hospitals on a random basis.
Since the recommendation by the IOM, a Canadian study, recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that surgical masks compared with N95 respirators “resulted in noninferior rates of laboratory-confirmed influenza” among healthcare workers. This study, however, was not conducted on H1N1 virus transmission.
Are you clear on all this; how could you be?
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David LaHoda
David LaHoda, the managing editor of Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, has produced healthcare training videos and consulted for medical practices and ambulatory healthcare facilities.
David has written 196 posts.
Comments
Ug. So is it still a “good faith measure” to proceed with fit-testing with the N95s at this point?
Since CDC recommendations were based on this study from WALES, is there any hope that CDC will revere it’s decision???
While still awaiting the OSHA enforcement guideline for H1N1, my advice is to follow the CDC interim guidelines which allows for prioritization of N95s based on shortages.
If shortages are not a problem the guidance still recommends fit-tested N95s over face masks when in close contact with confirmed or suspected H1N1 patients.
If your are not going to use N95s than I suggest a close adherence to the hierarchy of controls listed in this post:
“Fast-track guide to H1N1 OSHA compliance”
We are so focused on the H1N1, we seem to forget about all the other highly contagious, infectious diseases that are out there and also need to protect healthcare workers from.
Thank You Carol. Let us not forget some of these very ill patients may actually have TB. A surgical mask is not recommended here.
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