Choosing the Right Gloves

[mixin]

A short summary and some snips:
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Here are some points worth thinking about when you consider medical gloves:

1. The starting point for selection of medical gloves
Who is being protected?
What is being protected against?
What hazards will be encountered?
Gloves selected must provide adequate protection for any of the following:
Biological exposures (bacterial and viral)
Chemotherapy drugs
Sterilants
Chemicals

2. Consider known health effects associated with gloves
Latex allergy can affect both health care workers and patients.
Airborne powder may have high bacterial and latex protein levels
Allergy to rubber accelerators (used in the manufacture of gloves)
Cracked skin (associated with the allergic reaction) compromises the skin's inherent protective barrier against infection.
Incineration of vinyl (as waste) can release dioxin into the air

3. Important points for selecting gloves
Verification that a glove is powder-free.
Verification that a glove provides barrier protection against penetration of blood-borne pathogens, per ASTM F 1671.
Glove fit is important to prevent chafing of the skin.
A glove selected for good finger fit may be tight across the hand and cause chafing of the skin across the back of the hand.
Gloves that fit poorly sometimes make it difficult to perform manual tasks

Note: Only gloves which pass the ASTM F1671-97a test should be considered for situations where contact with blood borne pathogens is possible
Note: In practice, medical gloves are sometimes used as a protective barrier against chemicals, chemotherapy drugs, and sterilants. ASTM F 739-96 is a standard protocol for evaluating the resistance of gloves to permeation by fluids under conditions of continuous contact. .
Entire article here:
http://www.sustainablehospitals.org/...loveFacts.html
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This article is in association with Goshen Hospital
Some tips and summary about nitrile gloves
and their role in protecting against AI:

Nitrile Gloves Offer Superior Protection
Nitrile gloves hold up much better "in-use"
Vinyl and latex gloves are more prone to tearing and puncturing.
Nitrile gloves are less likely to cause irritation or allergic reactions.
Nitrile gloves have a much lower penetration rate than many other exam gloves
They have shown high resistance to penetration by bacteriophage Phi-X 174, the smallest known virus.
The bird flu virus is three times larger than bacteriophage Phi-X 174.
Nitrile gloves can provide excellent protection against the contamination of avian influenza when used properly.

How to Maximize Protection with Nitrile Gloves
Gloves should be put on with the utmost care.
The correct size minimizes excessive stretching or tugging.
Keep fingernails well trimmed and short
Rings with sharp edges that can easily produce tearing.
Gloves should be disposed of before their protective barrier has been compromised
Users should wash their hands with soap and water as soon as the gloves are removed.
Glove wearers should also use a 70 percent alcohol rub afterward.
The recommended type of nitrile gloves are powder-free as microorganisms found in the H5N1 strain of the virus can adhere to and be transported by air borne powder.
Entire article here:
http://guides.bizjournalsdirectory.c...Goshen_IN.html

[gsgs]

how long does it take to put them on/off ?
can it be done without touching them ?

can flu-viruses penetrate plastic/nitril/vinyl/latex ?

[Sally Furniss]

Originally Posted by mixin

microorganisms found in the H5N1 strain of the virus can adhere to and be transported by air borne powder

What do they really mean?

The virus would not normally be inside the glove unless the glove was compromised. Have tests been done to see virus carried on powder?

[mixin]

Gs, the proper fit helps in getting the gloves off and on easier; but in general, it doesn't take longer than putting a regular glove on.
Powdered gloves are the easiest to put on.
Tight fit and sweaty hands makes putting them on more difficult
According to the article, stretching them can compromise them

Sally, depending on how a glove is taken off, I could see the powder
possibley becoming conatiminated.
I tend to strip them off instead of pulling by the fingers.
That first link cited some tests; I haven't looked for others.

I thought all gloves were the same so this surprised me.

[Sally Furniss]

Would stripping gloves off rather than pulling them off help contain contaminants more?

[mixin]

When I strip mine off, they tend to turn inside out. I could see how the powder might get contaminated.
Then I think pulling them off would be the better option.
If wearing non-powdered, I think stripping them off might be better.
Possibly it would help contain any virus within the disposed glove.
Just my opinion, however.

[gsgs]

there should be velcro[?] on the back of the gloves
and some places with the other velcro [or pinch?] so you can easily
put them on and off without touching

and antiviral surface or powder inside

[mixin]

I've never seen a nitrile glove
The latex ones are like surgeons use; really, really thin
Antiviral powder inside might be a very good idea

[gsgs]

here is one:

[tropical]

"powder-free" -> sweating hands under the gloves,
and than that sweat skip out when the gloves are put off.

In the case of secure infection, putting on double gloves would be better.

First, the "use ones" gloves, than above, an robust kind of gloves which can be decontaminated first prior the stripping (or throwed also).
That would ease the procedure because the contaminated gloves was not sticked onto the fingers when stripped.
More costly, but more secure.

[Shannon]

In a home environment taking them off outdoors would be a smart alternative. Peeling off a gown outside would also be wise. The UV would assist in killing the virus and it would lessen the indoor contamination to some degree.

[Sally Furniss]

An interesting article.

Operating Room Nurses are Concerned about Complications Associated with Powdered Gloves

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine...loves-16189-1/

[tropical]

An health workers problem indeed, Sally.

Than, joining the alergical concerns of the powder with the avian one:
"The recommended type of nitrile gloves are powder-free as microorganisms found in the H5N1 strain of the virus can adhere to and be transported by air borne powder."
which I translated in:
The powder leaked out after (many) stripping of powdered gloves, floated through the room, stick on itself the virus particles, and "weaponized" the room air better than the usual room dust particles.
If the infection containment facility don't have an aspirating (or negative pressure) depurating system, at the moment when the worker leave out of the infected room, because of the air streams the powder laced vith pathologic microorganisms exit out of the room, and act as an aerosol spreader, infecting other (previously clean) hospital's areas.

If the above have more microbiologic relevance, than the workers in infected areas MUST wear non-powder, nitrile gloves (like previously suggested in the begining text) which passed:
"Note: Only gloves which pass the ASTM F1671-97a test should be considered for situations where contact with blood borne pathogens is possible"
"Note: In practice, medical gloves are sometimes used as a protective barrier against chemicals, chemotherapy drugs, and sterilants. ASTM F 739-96 is a standard protocol for evaluating the resistance of gloves to permeation by fluids under conditions of continuous contact."

And, additionaly, because of the possibility of auto-infection from the outer surface of the gloves when stripping them, use above the nitrile, an easy strip (a bit larger, and non-sticky) more robust kind of gloves which can be decontaminated before the stripping.

[Sally Furniss]

Desert Shrub Holds Key to Allergy-Free Latex Gloves, U.S. Says
By Catherine Larkin
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Latex medical gloves made from a desert shrub were cleared for sale in the U.S., offering hand protection for doctors and nurses who can't wear traditional rubber because of allergies, regulators said.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first patient examination gloves made of natural latex from the guayule (pronounced ``why-YOU-lee'') bush, the agency said today in an e-mailed statement. The material is made by closely held Yulex Corp., based 40 miles south of Phoenix in Maricopa, Arizona.
As many as 22 percent of health-care workers are sensitive to traditional latex made from milky rubber tree sap, the FDA said. Prolonged or repeated contact can cause itching, a rash or more severe symptoms, including difficulty breathing or shock. Guayule latex causes no reactions on first contact, even in people highly allergic to traditional latex, the agency said.
``This approval has the potential to make a significant difference to both the general public and the medical community at large,'' said Daniel Schultz, director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in the statement. ``They will not have to sacrifice the desirable properties of traditional latex such as flexibility and strength.''
Latex has been used in medical gloves since the 1890s, according to the FDA. Concerns the material may cause allergic reactions led the agency to require in 1998 that all gloves carry a warning. Yulex's gloves will also carry a warning about the possibility of allergic reactions, since long-term safety hasn't been studied, the FDA said.
Yulex also is developing guayule latex for catheters and condoms and is researching ways to extract fuel and specialty chemicals from the desert plant, according to its Web site.
To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Larkin in Washington at clarkin4@bloomberg.net .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=a1CTKfxdLvpA