Impact of negative pressure system on microbiological air quality in a Central Sterile Supply Department.

Objective: Guidelines recommend that the cleaning area in a Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) maintain a negative pressure of the environmental air, but how much this system can impact the contamination of the air by bioaerosols in the area is not known. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of negative pressure on CSSD by evaluating the microbiological air quality of this sector.

Methods: Microbiological air samples were collected in two CSSD in the same hospital: one with and one without a negative air pressure system.

Safety in the practice of decontaminating filtering facepiece respirators: A systematic review.

Background: Considering the new SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the potential scarcity of material resources, the reuse of personal protective equipment such as filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) for N95 filtering or higher is being discussed, mainly regarding the effectiveness and safety of cleaning, disinfection and sterilization processes.

Aim: To analyze the available evidence in the literature on the safety in processing FFRs.

Methods: A systematic review conducted by searching for studies in the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, LILACS, CENTRAL, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus.

Periodic sterility assessment of materials stored for up to 6 months at continuous microbial contamination risk: laboratory study.

An investigation was conducted to test the hypothesis that the storage time of packaging sterility has no effect on contamination susceptibility even under deliberate bacterial exposure (Serratia marcescens). No growth of the test microorganisms was identified in the experimental group in any of the storage intervals (7, 14, 28, 90, and 180 days). Current recommendations/guidelines suggest that contamination of packaging occurs only because of events.

Sterility maintenance assessment of moist/wet material after steam sterilization and 30-day storage.

Moist/wet materials stored after autoclaving are considered contaminated and not recommended for use. This study evaluates the maintenance of sterility in moist/wet material after being submitted to steam sterilization and stored for a period of 30 days. Aiming to support decision-making in emergency situations, 40 surgical boxes packed in nonwoven cloth covering Spunbound, Metblouwn, Spunbound (SMS): half (the experimental group) were placed in an autoclave but the drying phase was interrupted, yielding moist/wet materials and the other half (the negative control group) underwent the complete cycle.