News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The Institute of Medicine (IOM) today affirmed existing federal guidance that healthcare workers caring for H1N1 influenza patients should wear fit-tested N95 respirators, not just surgical masks, to protect them from the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – A task force of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), charged with making recommendations about how to protect healthcare workers against novel H1N1 influenza, today heard a variety of evidence that respirators and masks can shield healthcare workers (HCWs) and others from getting respiratory illnesses.

(CIDRAP News) – A Canadian study raises questions about the value of formal "fit testing" for the respirators worn by healthcare workers to protect them from airborne pathogens, suggesting that it does little good for workers who don't routinely wear the devices.

(CIDRAP News) – Experts predict that an influenza pandemic will place a long and heavy burden on the medical community, which prompted the US Department of Labor (DOL) to develop guidance for healthcare worker safety that it released today at a press conference.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday cleared the way for two N-95 respirator models to be marketed as devices that can reduce a user's risk of becoming ill during an influenza pandemic or other public health emergency.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Labor (DOL) has introduced workplace health guidelines to help businesses understand their pandemic influenza risks and what they need to do to prepare.