Two new studies show steam can effectively decontaminate medical masks including the N95 respirator mask.
 
Houston-based researchers who produced a small-scale study on reprocessing N95 respirators with steam say reusing sanitized masks is crucial in countries facing PPE shortages.
 
Moist heat is among the most promising COVID-19 decontamination methods, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
"With each attempt to safely don a contaminated N95 mask, the risk for infection of vital clinicians grows. In countries where equipment shortages have progressed, health care workers are currently being infected with COVID-19 at three times the rate of the general population, reducing the ability of hospitals to provide adequate care, and increasing COVID-19 patient death rates. Thus, it is essential to create a protocol for sanitizing masks without reducing efficacy."
 
[This brief was adapted from a story that first ran in HealthLeaders Media]