Performance of materials used for biological personal protective equipment against blood splash penetration

SHIMASAKI, Noriko; SHINOHARA, Katsuaki; MORIKAWA, Hideki

To mitigate the risks of accidental infection, healthcare workers (HCWs) must wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in environments where they are exposed to pathogens. However, HCWs should be aware of the performance and suitability of different types of PPE in specific situations. For example, during an Ebola virus outbreak in western African in 2014, secondary accidental infections occurred in hospitals outside the affected Industrial Health 2017, 55, 521-528 countries 10, 11) . In response to this crisis, the World Health Organization and U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention published guidelines for HCWs treating Ebola patients 12, 13) that included wearing PPE covering the entire body -i.e., masks, personal protective clothing (PPC), head covers, gloves, goggles, and boots. The guidelines also stipulate the selection and use of PPE with high performance in terms of protection from sprayed liquids, such as contaminated body fluids.