Review of Sterilization Techniques for Medical and Personal Protective Equipment Contaminated With SARS-CoV-2
Abbas J. Jinia, Noora Ba Sunbul, Christopher A. Meert, C. A. Miller, Shaun D. Clarke, Kimberlee J. Kearfott, M.M. Matuszak, Sara A. Pozzi
Abstract
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19 turned into a global pandemic in March 2020. During these unprecedented times, there is an increased demand in medical and personal protective equipment (PPE). Since the supplies may take a long time to meet the global demand, reusing PPEs will help health care workers in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure the safety and well-being of the medical first responders, PPE needs to be sterilized before reuse. In this review, we examine various sterilization techniques that can be used to sterilize PPEs and point out its limitations. The objective is to provide a foundation of knowledge incorporating different sterilization techniques that allow hospitals and clinics to pick the most suitable technique for sterilization of a particular PPE.