The impact of cold weather on respiratory morbidity at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta.

Background: Research on temperature and respiratory hospitalizations is lacking in the southeastern U.S. where cold weather is relatively rare.

Sampling for SARS-CoV-2 Aerosols in Hospital Patient Rooms.

Evidence varies as to how far aerosols spread from individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in hospital rooms. We investigated the presence of aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2 inside of dedicated COVID-19 patient rooms. Three National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health BC 251 two-stage cyclone samplers were set up in each patient room for a six-hour sampling period.

Healthcare worker mental models of patient care tasks in the context of infection prevention and control.

Objective: Understanding the cognitive determinants of healthcare worker (HCW) behavior is important for improving the use of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. Given a patient requiring only standard precautions, we examined the dimensions along which different populations of HCWs cognitively organize patient care tasks (ie, their mental models).

Design: HCWs read a description of a patient and then rated the similarities of 25 patient care tasks from an infection prevention perspective.

Bioaerosol Sampling for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a Referral Center with Critically Ill Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Patients March-May 2020.

Background: Previous research has shown that rooms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) present the potential for healthcare-associated transmission through aerosols containing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, data on the presence of these aerosols outside of patient rooms are limited. We investigated whether virus-containing aerosols were present in nursing stations and patient room hallways in a referral center with critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Bioaerosol sampling of a ventilated patient with COVID-19.

Bioaerosol samples were collected in an airborne infection isolation room, bathroom, and anteroom of a ventilated patient with coronavirus disease 2019. Twenty-eight samples were negative for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid, possibly due to the patient being on a closed-circuit ventilator or the efficiency of the air exchanges in the room.

Training and Fit Testing of Health Care Personnel for Reusable Elastomeric Half-Mask Respirators Compared With Disposable N95 Respirators.

This study examines the feasibility of rapidly training and fit testing health care workers to use elastomeric half-mask respirators (EHMRs), widely used in construction and manufacturing, as an alternative to N95 respirators during periods of shortage.