Infection Disease Hazards and Protections in Health Care -- Aerosol Transmission, Spread by Air 
  
Jane Thomason, MSPH, CIC from National Nurses United discusses the dangers and prevention of aerosolized pathogens. The United States is currently seeing dangerous increases in Tuberculosis, Measles, Meningococcal, Candida auris, and COVID-19 cases. It is estimated that there are between 34,000 to 151,000 cases of influenza and between 3,200 to 6,400 cases of Tuberculosis. Frontline healthcare workers are 11.6 times more likely to have COVID-19 than the general population. Aerosol transmission is an important mechanism of spread in many diseases and our understanding of the mechanism of spread has changed. Particles of various sizes spread through the air, with particle sizes below 100 microns having a propensity to aerosolize. Aerosolization can occur with breathing, speaking, and coughing. Surgical masks are not designed to prevent transmission of aerosolized pathogens. N95 masks provide the minimum level of protection which should be used. Despite the science, a NNU survey of nurses found respirators are only used 65% of the time when treating TB patients and 36% of the time when treating patients with measles. Nearly half of nurses report that facilities are using surgical masks when treating COVID-19 patients. Health Watch USA^sm meeting Nov. 22, 2024.  View YouTube Video at https://youtu.be/ciWkl7d2Lqw