What kind of respirator for hantavirus

Particles from mouse feces might become airborne if they are swept or vacuumed, so spraying with a mixture of bleach and water is recommended before wiping down the areas. But if you are worried about airborne particles as you are entering a space to be cleaned, it certainly makes sense to wear a disposable respirator.

The other item that is mentioned for clean-up of areas that may have mouse droppings or nests is bleach. And while the solution for clean-up is mild, some folks are more sensitive to bleach than others. These cartridges can be fitted with a P95 pre-filter model number 5P In some cases such as construction or utilities work, engineering controls as described above may not be practical or sufficiently reduce the hazard.

PPE may also be necessary during clean up and decontamination. Proper PPE for workers should include respiratory protection, eye protection, gloves and coveralls as described below. Refer to the user instructions for proper use procedures, limitations, warnings and cautions. All potentially infective waste material including respirator filters and protective clothing from clean-up operations should be double bagged in plastic bags. County or state health departments can assist in determining appropriate disposal methods.

OSHA does not currently have any specific regulations regarding Hantavirus. The impact and utility of these recommendations will be assessed as they are implemented and will be continually reviewed by the CDC and the involved state and local health agencies as additional data related to the disease is gathered.

The reader is advised to be alert to supplements or modifications to these recommendations in the future. For further information on respirators, eye protection and disposable coveralls for use against Hantavirus call 3M Tech Service at or visit our website at www.

Biological agents, such as viruses, are particles and can be filtered by particulate filters with the same efficiency as non-biological particles having the same physical characteristics e. Unlike many industrial particles, there are no exposure limits established for biological agents.

Ultraviolet UV light is a very effective way to kill viruses under certain circumstances. Sunlight produces high intensities of UV and finely dispersed aerosols of the kind that infect humans are readily penetrated by the light. Virus inactivation has never been measured under those circumstances, but it must be very rapid. However, the UV light must penetrate to the virus particle. One reason why the interior of structures may be dangerous is that the reflected white light from outside will not contain sufficient UV.

Similarly, solids or liquids provide a challenge to UV penetration. Also, do you have data on how long the virus is infective in dried feces, urine, and other excreta of rodents? Studies on Hantaan virus have shown that the virus infectivity cannot be recovered after 2 days upon desiccation.

Studies with Sin Nombre virus are pending. The elevation of the WBC is not an accurate indicator of severity. A search for correlates to severity of HPS has not revealed any relationships to gender or ethnicity. Individuals under the age of 15 years appear to have milder disease. No associations have yet been found for alleles in other HLA genes. The simple answer to this question is that there have been no studies of any cytokine blocking agents in HPS, so they should not be tried empirically.

Such agents should only be used on an experimental protocol. However, the simple answer begs the question of whether an anti-cytokine protocol should be implemented. There is evidence that certain cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of HPS.

When direct measurements of these cytokines were made in acutely ill HPS patients, the serum levels were found to be not statistically different from those of normal volunteers or from critically ill control patients. Additionally, the levels of these soluble receptors were highest in severely ill patients, as compared with patients who had mild HPS. In patients who survived the acute illness, the levels of soluble cytokine receptors for TNF and IL-2 decreased during the convalescent period.

Both cytokines can cause myocardial depression, as is seen in HPS, via activation of intracellular nitric oxide in cardiac myocytes. IL-2 causes pulmonary edema and hypotension when it is given to humans as cancer chemotherapy. A plausible explanation for the cytokine findings in HPS is that TNF alpha or beta and IL-2 levels may have been strikingly increased in the period leading up to the acute illness, or that a surge of one or another or all of these cytokines led to rapid onset of pulmonary edema and shock.

By the time of hospital admission and blood collection, the cytokine levels had either decreased to normal or were masked by binding to high levels of circulating soluble receptors. However, alternative explanations for the cytokine findings should not be ignored. For example, both forms of soluble TNF receptor 55 kd and 75 kd and the soluble IL-2 receptor can be released from activated mononuclear cells, even in the absence of binding of the respective cytokine.

Presumably, this release of soluble receptors represents a mechanism of slowing or modulating inflammation. So, a more circumspect answer to the question may be that there is as yet insufficient evidence to attempt a therapeutic trial that hinges on blocking the actions of one of these cytokines. There are currently no agents available for blocking the action of IL However, several anti-TNF agents have been developed, including a humanized murine monoclonal antibody to TNF alpha and a fusion protein of recombinant 75 kd receptor and the Fc portion of human IgG.

These agents have failed to prove useful in sepsis resulting from microorganisms other than hantaviruses. Before trials with anti-cytokine agents are designed, a more definite association must be made between increased cytokine levels and the development of shock and pulmonary edema in patients with HPS.

This will probably require earlier evaluation of cytokine profiles in patients who have not yet developed pulmonary edema. As to the use of antibiotics in HPS, it is clear that no antibacterial is likely to be an effective therapy.

Nevertheless, patients should be placed on broad spectrum antibiotics until the diagnosis of HPS is well established, since bacterial shock is far more common than hantaviral shock. The average is 2 to 4 weeks. The disease begins as a flu-like illness. In the early stage, a worker may experience fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat and gastrointestinal problems. However, the disease progresses rapidly and infected people experience an abnormal fall in blood pressure and their lungs will fill with fluid.

Severe respiratory failure, resulting in death, can occur within a few days of the early stage symptoms. There is no specific vaccine, treatment or cure for Hantavirus infection but early recognition and medical care in an intensive care unit can help with recovery. Infected people may be given medication for fever and pain and oxygen therapy. Cases of Hantavirus infection contracted in Canada and the United States have been associated with these activities:. For workers that might be exposed to rodents as part of their normal job duties, employers are required to comply with relevant occupational health and safety regulations in their jurisdiction.

Typically, employers are required to develop and implement an exposure control plan to eliminate or reduce the risk and hazard of Hantavirus in their workplace. Attempt to reduce the presence of mice and limit contact with their droppings, urine and saliva by:. Since human infection occurs through inhalation of contaminated material, clean-up procedures must be performed in a way that limits the amount of airborne dust.

Treat all mice and droppings as being potentially infected. People involved in general clean-up activities where there is not heavy accumulation of droppings should wear disposable protective clothing and gloves neoprene, nitrile or latex-free , rubber boots and a disposable N95 respirator. For cleaning up rodent contaminated areas with heavy accumulations of droppings it is necessary to use powered air-purifying PARP or air-supplied respirators with P filters and eye or face protection to avoid contact with any aerosols.

Dead mice, nests and droppings should be soaked thoroughly with a solution of sodium hypochlorite household bleach. Bleach kills the virus and reduces the chance of further transmission.