Respiratory distress due to a wide spectrum of pulmonary infectious diseases—avian influenza (H5N1), varicella, aspergillosis, tuberculosis, and recently severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and swine flu (H1N1)—have been designated “emerging areas” for application of noninvasive ventilation (NIV), which is used to treat patients with acute respiratory failure [1]. Because of the peculiarities of this modality of mechanical ventilation (i.e., intentional and unintentional air leaks), however, theoretical concern has been raised about its use to treat patients with severe pneumonia caused by highly contagious microorganisms. Accordingly, NIV may increase caregivers’ exposure to infectious pathogens, leading to potentially disastrous pandemics.
CITATION STYLE
Scala, R., & Soroksky, A. (2014). Noninvasive ventilation interfaces for high-risk infections: Implications for health care workers. In Noninvasive Ventilation in High-Risk Infections and Mass Casualty Events (pp. 29–34). Springer-Verlag Wien. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1496-4_4
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