COVID-19 Update 15: Can we disinfect and reuse N95 masks?

Personal protective equipment (including masks) are vital for protecting health care workers from infection with COVID-19. In this video we briefly review the two mask types used in clinical settings — the surgical mask and the N95 mask. We take a deeper look at the more effective N95 mask and the contract transmission risk associated with reuse. We also examine extra precautions set out by the CDC to reduce the risk of contact transmission. We review and discuss several articles on decontamination methods and preventing compromisation of the proper fit of the mask.

#medmastery #coronavirus #COVID19 #sarscov2 #coronaviruschina #coronavirustruth #coronavirusdeaths #WHO #wuhan #infection #pandemic #publichealth
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Links for reference:

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More updates by Dr. Wiesbauer:
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Useful resources:
For checking daily developments of cases, deaths and more:

Other useful resources:
Journal Watch:
New England Journal of Medicine:
Github collaboration:
CDC:
WHO:
Nucleuswealth:
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Speaker: Franz Wiesbauer, MD MPH
Internist & Founder at Medmastery



Please Note: Medmastery's videos, medical lectures, medical illustrations, and medical animations are for medical education and exam preparation purposes, and not intended to replace recommendations by your doctor or health care provider.

[meme-ycks]

MCdonalds bought almost 1 MIllion mask for donation to hospitals days ago. How the hell is it McDonalds is able to buy almost 1 million masks but yet the hospitals dont have access to this stock?

[FreflyOfficial]

Thank God there are plenty of N95 masks these days! My choice is the company "Protect Life"

[ConcealedCourier]

You'd think they would have done a fabric lifespan test right from the start.

[motoman]

3M should be able to invent a updated N95 mask that can be cleaned multiples of times without degrading the fit or the filtering material.

[Vplay.]

thank you very much for the accurate & good source info. Now we know that is impossible to disinfect an N95 with homemade methods

[liddendragon]

Have two N95s & rotate use while 1 drys in sunlight. Wear cloth mask over N95 & wash daily. Seems to work but welcome critique.

[eamonhannon]

Why NOT in a home oven .What is the reason . You stated the important thing was to raise the temperature above 65 Degrees C in an oven . Then you make a statement " Do not use in a home oven . A home oven can raise the temperature to above 65 Degrees C . So these statements appear contradictory . You need to explain WHY it is not recommended to heat the mask in a HOME oven .If you are giving information try to ensure the information is CLEAR !

[pokedude]

I know its not the right way in a professional medical setting but for the general public who want to reuse their surgical style masks, I found that this is a good way to do it. Starting with clean hands of course...
1. Fill clean sink with hot water
2. Get the mask wet in the water
3. Use a plain bar of soap on your hands to get them soapy
4. Gently scrub mask in between hands making sure to get in the creases. Do this for a couple minutes.
5. rinse in the hot water
6. fold width wise and squeeze out excess water
7. hang somewhere clean to dry
8. when dry use a new ziploc bag to store in until use. only use bag once

[yonutz]

Besides the fact that the introduction is almost half of the video, waaaay to long, it's good and informative

[bizzarrogeorge]

How come there aren't any billionaires starting up n95 manufacturing plants?

[peterfrey]

What about a laundry dryer?
Is it possible to clean a N95 in a laundry dryer?

What about disinfecting the fabric of a DIY cloth mask with a hepa filter?

[crazybusdriver]

I heard about a company in Ohio that built a machine that sprays the masks with hydrogen peroxide and the masks can be reused as much as 70 times. I hope that works.

[trycoldman]

I usually disinfect my N95s with UVC light, 30 mins on each side and then leave them for 10 days in a cardboard box with openings to dry out.

[drewga]

Did not comment on the "Hot Water Vapor (Steam)" cleaning shown on the chart @ 6:30. That looks pretty promising on the chart. Also, wonder if any studies have been done on microwaving them?

[yemail]

Have about 2 dozens of N95 masks so my current strategy is the last one you have said: wear one every time I need to go out and then put it in a dry and ventilated place in my house for like 2 - 3 weeks before use the same one next time. Since I only need to go out about once a week, I need 4 masks to do the rotation and have other masks as backups and should be able to sustain long period of time

[LifeOfSpandy]

Beautifully spoke everything. Better than all the other videos showing the same thing

[paulosilva-dmqb]

Hi..helpful adices in these days..But why the hot water boiling hasn´t been mentioned if the number in the table were adequate?

[Raison_d-etre]

To provide an update: CDC no longer believes that the virus transmits via contaminated surfaces. They also found that respirators lose fit after 5 donnings.

[mariomoreno]

Please, tell us why ozone has not been considered as potential method like this case? We are trying to reuse safetly the respirators all arround the world.

[salavamanianttony]

I would like to refer some of the information from this video for my video