ABSTRACT
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a high number of professionals have been at risk of developing skin lesions secondary to the use of personal protective equipment. The clinical practice guidelines recommend the use of fatty acids to reduce the appearance of pressure ulcers. Here are described the results of a survey conducted at the national level, that included a total of 134 professionals. The moment of the application of the fatty acid was, 58.2%, after the removal of the individual equipment protection;in 25.4%, ten minutes before the placement of the protective equipment;in 7.5%, at the time of the donning of the protective equipment;in 6.7%, between 10-30 minutes before putting on the protective equipment, and in 2.2%, thirty minutes before the application of the protective equipment. The professionals who responded referred, in 73.1% of the cases, an improvement of the pre-existing erythema;in 56.7%, this substance provides hydration of the skin;in 50% of the cases, it contributes to the prevention of related skin lesions with the use of individual protection systems;in 26.1%, it provides an emollient effect on the skin. Based on the results, the use of these topical substances (fatty acids) is recommended in the case of the use of personal protective equipment.
ABSTRACT
In January 2020, the Chinese authorities confirmed the causative agent of an outbreak of cases with pneumonia of unknown etiology that appeared in December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) called SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus of the coronavirus family. On March 12, the WHO declared this outbreak as a pandemic as it spread worldwide. Human epidemics usually follow the start of exponential growth, this means that from a small number of cases in a few days, a large increase in the number of infected people is observed. The clinical manifestations and spectrum of symptomatic disease range from moderate to critical presentations. In cases with fatal progression, the most serious complications sometimes are cause of a multi-organ failure and patient death. SARS-CoV-2 has a high transmission rate, the route of transmission between humans is through the secretions of infected people, hands or contaminated objects. In general, the epidemic control measures used so far have been based on adoption of interventions from the classical epidemiology, identifying and isolating the cases, following the contacts and establishing restrictions, including quarantine, closure of educational centers, avoiding events in which crowds of people occur, limiting mobility. These measures have been effective in China, the original focus of the outbreak.