Grandstand. The considerable number of infections with the Omicron variant shows how much protection against its transmission must be reinforced. We, specialists in the prevention of infectious risks, regret that the debate is focused on the type of surgical mask or FFP2, at the expense of other protective measures which are however those most often failing before the onset of infections.
Infectious risk prevention teams have been mobilized since the start of the epidemic to protect patients, residents and healthcare professionals. By following the evolution of scientific knowledge, they define and implement protection measures, and evaluate them in order to be able to adapt them. Their training, knowledge of the field and the experience acquired give them legitimacy in the field of protection against Covid.
The French Society for Hospital Hygiene (SF2H) recommends a set of protective measures including the wearing of a surgical mask for all staff and patients, and imposing that of an FFP2 mask during situations involving exposure to aerosols. Answering this question involves knowing the entry points of the virus into the body and the routes taken to reach them, which are the same for all the variants.
The role of barrier gestures and clean hands
The entry points of the virus are the receptors of the cells of the respiratory mucous membranes (nose, mouth, bronchi), and ocular. To protect yourself, you must prevent the virus from reaching these mucous membranes. Respiratory protection is ensured by wearing a mask. That of the eyes is ensured in the hospital by wearing a visor, in particular during close care of unmasked patients. Outside the hospital, physical distancing protects the eyes from droplets emitted by an infected person.
The virus encounters the mucous membranes following two routes of transmission. The first is the airborne route through the particles emitted by an infected person. Three axes make it possible to reduce this risk: to limit, by a mask, the emission of particles by the infected person, to reduce, by a mask, the entry of these particles into the exposed person, and to disperse the particles in the air by ventilating the premises.
The second way is by hand: the hands, contaminated in contact with an infected surface or person, transport the virus to the mucous membranes of the face. To reduce this risk, the hands must be washed or disinfected with a hydroalcoholic gel. Gloves have no interest in reducing hand-held transmission because like hands, they can carry the virus, but unlike them, they cannot be disinfected. They can thus increase the risk of contamination.
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