title: Mechanical ventilation of SARS patients. Safety issues involving breathing-circuit filters.
abstract: Patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) sometimes require mechanical ventilation. This raises safety concerns about the SARS virus being carried by droplets that exit from the exhalation limb of the ventilator. ECRI recommends that breathing-circuit filters be incorporated in the exhalation limb of any ventilator used on a patient with SARS. In this article, we review the issues behind our recommendations and describe steps hospitals can take to prevent any adverse effects on ventilation.
mesh_terms: D000391:Air Microbiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D017751:Safety Management / Q000592:standards; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical / Q000821:virology*