TORONTO, Canada: The novel coronavirus first infected people in China, but is spreading to other countries in Asia as well as to Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. The public are aware of the dangers and spread of the virus, and dental professionals all over the world have already taken measures to prevent the virus from being transmitted to others. To help oral health care workers comply with standard infection control protocols, COLTENE has recently announced that its OPTIM broad-spectrum disinfectants are effective in inactivating viruses similar to the Wuhan coronavirus on hard nonporous surfaces and noninvasive medical devices.
The coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, is part of a family of viruses that can cause a range of illnesses, from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome and the Middle East respiratory syndrome. Owing to a surge of coronavirus cases outside of China, the World Health Organization has recently announced that the virus is reaching a tipping point and might soon turn into a pandemic. The virus may be easily transmitted in health care settings. In light of this, Dental Tribune International recently published an article reporting on the recommendations that dental associations and organizations have issued to help limit its transmission.
OPTIM disinfectants have been proved to meet the requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s emerging viral pathogens claim, Health Canada’s broad-spectrum virucide claim for emerging pathogens, and the European Committee for Standardization’s overview standard EN 14885 and virucidal standard EN 14476. Three of the disinfectants, OPTIM Blue, OPTIM 33TB and OPTIM 1, have a virucidal contact time of 1 minute or less, which means that the surface must remain wet for only 1 minute in order to inactivate viruses, including the coronavirus.
For infection prevention and control, COLTENE stated that oral health care providers ought to clean and disinfect all clinical contact surfaces, such as the dental chair, and make sure to regularly clean and disinfect surfaces that present the highest risk of infection in the sterilization center, such as surfaces that come into contact with contaminated instruments and gloves.
Moreover, before cleaning or disinfecting contaminated surfaces, they should make sure to wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE) according to local infection control guidelines. As stated on the OPTIM disinfectants’ safety data sheets, PPE is not required for handling the product because it is not irritating to the skin. However, PPE, such as utility gloves, must be worn to protect oral health care workers from infectious materials.
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