Coronavirus FAQ: Why Am I Suddenly Hearing So Much About KF94 Masks?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Each week, we answer "frequently asked questions" about life during the coronavirus crisis.
What is the coronavirus?
The coronavirus is a virus with a family name (Klebsiella) and a genus (Coronaviridae). It's found worldwide, but its human transmission — and thus its ability to cause life-threatening disease — is so extreme that its origins are far from...
Coronavirus FAQ: When Did The Hospital States Enter The News Cycle?
... well, anyone's grasp. Though it is usually a slow-moving disease with cases earlier in the year, the same strain is responsible for the death of more than 100 Americans since 2003 — and further viruses were discovered at other hospitals.
Although fewer than half this year's reported patients have been hospitalized, coronavirus has caught the attention of the world.
Here's what you need to know. This week's questions will focus on another story that broke Sunday in the AMA's bulletin. That story focuses on the Eastern Oregon Health Authority (EOWA), which was recently recommended for approval by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to be designated a Level 1 federal disaster. In addition to hysteria about the virus ripping through the U.S., the story has been breathlessly covered by major outlets, including NPR.
This week's questions focus on EOWA patients who have shown signs of infection with deadly KF94 masks. Medical guidance for EOWA patients consists of providing them with bandages and supplies that can be readily managed by hospital staff in the event of a foreign viral infection (translation: bandages don't protect against: influenza).
Private bandages aren't a recommended treatment option for KF94. The virus is known to survive for days in beakers that have been sealed by sterilization; the masks are transmitted by direct contact with contaminated blood, and can be sealed off any day before a patient goes into a hospital to make the contact.
Courtesy of the CDC. The mask, manufactured by Parke-Davis, is a rubber face shield that is designed to cover the nose and mouth, thus restricting the nasal airway.
How is KF94 infection contracted?
Part of the difficulty in identifying KF94 infections is that two admissions during the past two weeks the health authorities in East Tennessee said they had seen patients with the same "flu-like (old-man) syndrome" that doctors have seen earlier this year in a wider region — New York, Florida, Kansas." However, each patient has
Enlarge this image toggle caption Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Each week, we answer "frequently asked questions" about life during the coronavirus crisis.
What is the coronavirus?
The coronavirus is a virus with a family name (Klebsiella) and a genus (Coronaviridae). It's found worldwide, but its human transmission — and thus its ability to cause life-threatening disease — is so extreme that its origins are far from...
Coronavirus FAQ: When Did The Hospital States Enter The News Cycle?
... well, anyone's grasp. Though it is usually a slow-moving disease with cases earlier in the year, the same strain is responsible for the death of more than 100 Americans since 2003 — and further viruses were discovered at other hospitals.
Although fewer than half this year's reported patients have been hospitalized, coronavirus has caught the attention of the world.
Here's what you need to know. This week's questions will focus on another story that broke Sunday in the AMA's bulletin. That story focuses on the Eastern Oregon Health Authority (EOWA), which was recently recommended for approval by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to be designated a Level 1 federal disaster. In addition to hysteria about the virus ripping through the U.S., the story has been breathlessly covered by major outlets, including NPR.
This week's questions focus on EOWA patients who have shown signs of infection with deadly KF94 masks. Medical guidance for EOWA patients consists of providing them with bandages and supplies that can be readily managed by hospital staff in the event of a foreign viral infection (translation: bandages don't protect against: influenza).
Private bandages aren't a recommended treatment option for KF94. The virus is known to survive for days in beakers that have been sealed by sterilization; the masks are transmitted by direct contact with contaminated blood, and can be sealed off any day before a patient goes into a hospital to make the contact.
Courtesy of the CDC. The mask, manufactured by Parke-Davis, is a rubber face shield that is designed to cover the nose and mouth, thus restricting the nasal airway.
How is KF94 infection contracted?
Part of the difficulty in identifying KF94 infections is that two admissions during the past two weeks the health authorities in East Tennessee said they had seen patients with the same "flu-like (old-man) syndrome" that doctors have seen earlier this year in a wider region — New York, Florida, Kansas." However, each patient has
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