American nurse Nina Pham is the second health worker to contract Ebola outside of West Africa while caring for patients with the virus, despite using personal protective equipment. Authorities were quick to attribute lapses in protocol for Pham’s and Madrid nurse Teresa Romero Ramos’ infection. But inadequate guidelines for personal protective equipment (PPE) may equally be to blame.
The World Health Organization (WHO), United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Australia and many countries recommend health workers treating Ebola wear surgical masks for protection, along with other personal protective equipment such gowns, gloves and goggles.
A glaring inconsistency of these guidelines is that lab scientists working with Ebola are recommended to use respirators, which offer more protection than surgical masks, while masks are deemed adequate for doctors and nurses at the front line. The hospital ward, however, is a far more contaminated and volatile environment than the sterile, highly controlled lab.
Nurses have the closest contact with patients, and deserve all available protection for their occupational health and safety. This means higher personal protective equipment, including respirators.
