Practical strategies for a safe and effective delivery of aerosolized medications to patients with COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19, the disease caused by a novel coronavirus and named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread rapidly across the globe. It has caused outbreaks of illness due to person-to-person transmission of the virus mainly via close contacts and droplets produced by an infected person's cough or sneeze. Exhaled droplets from infected patients with COVID-19 can be inhaled into the lungs and leads to respiratory illness such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Although aerosol therapy is a mainstay procedure used to treat pulmonary diseases at home and healthcare settings, it has a potential for fugitive emissions during therapy due to the generation of aerosols and droplets as a source of respiratory pathogens. Delivering aerosolized medications to patients with COVID-19 can aggravate the spread of the novel coronavirus. This has been a real concern for caregivers and healthcare professionals who are susceptible to unintended inhalation of fugitive emissions during therapy. Due to a scarcity of information in this area of clinical practice, the purpose of this paper is to explain how to deliver aerosolized medications to mild-, sub-intensive, and intensive patients with COVID-19 and how to protect staff from exposure to exhaled droplets during aerosol therapy.