Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease 2019 During Nebulizer Treatment: A Systematic Review.

Abstract

Rationale: There is an urgent need to understand the risk of viral transmission during nebulizer treatment of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Objectives: To assess the risk of transmitting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and influenza with administration of drugs via nebulizer. Methods: We searched multiple electronic databases, including PubMed®, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, preprint databases, and clinicaltrials.gov through December 1, 2020. Any study design in any language describing the risk of viral transmission with nebulizer treatment was eligible. Data were abstracted by one investigator and verified by a second. Results: We identified 22 articles: 1 systematic review, 7 cohort/case-control studies, 7 case series, and 7 simulation-based studies. Eight individual studies involved patients with SARS, five involved MERS, and one involved SARS-CoV-2. The seven cohort/case-control studies (four high risk of bias [ROB], three unclear ROB) found mixed results (median odds ratio 3.91, range 0.08-20.67) based on very weak data among a small number of health care workers (HCWs) with variable use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Case series had multiple potential contributors to transmission. Simulation studies found evidence for droplet dispersion after saline nebulization and measureable influenza viral particles up to 1.7 m from the source after 10 minutes of nebulization with a patient simulator. Study heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis. Conclusions: Case series raise concern of transmission risk, and simulation studies demonstrate droplet dispersion with virus recovery, but specific evidence that exposure to nebulizer treatment increases transmission of coronaviruses similar to COVID-19 is inconclusive. Tradeoffs balancing HCW safety and patient appropriateness can potentially minimize risk, including choice of delivery method for inhaled medications (e.g., nebulizer vs. metered dose inhaler) and PPE (e.g., N95 vs. surgical mask).

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1089/jamp.2020.1659

Publication Info

Goldstein, Karen M, Kamrouz Ghadimi, Harry Mystakelis, Yuanyuan Kong, Tongtong Meng, Sarah Cantrell, Megan Von Isenburg, Adelaide Gordon, et al. (2021). Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease 2019 During Nebulizer Treatment: A Systematic Review. Journal of aerosol medicine and pulmonary drug delivery, 34(3). pp. 155–170. 10.1089/jamp.2020.1659 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/29716.

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Scholars@Duke

Goldstein

Karen M. Goldstein

Associate Professor of Medicine

Dr. Goldstein's research interests include women's health, cardiovascular risk reduction, evidence synthesis methodology and peer support.

Ghadimi

Kamrouz Ghadimi

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

Overview
Dr. Ghadimi is a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, intensivist (ICU doctor), researcher, educator, and director of the clinical research unit in the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke Health. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, online reviews, and editorials. His expertise involves the perioperative and intensive care management of patients undergoing cardiac and noncardiac surgery, with a special focus on the treatment of bleeding and inflammation related to shock and mechanical circulatory support and on the modification of pulmonary circulation to optimize end-organ blood flow.

Clinical Education
Dr. Ghadimi is a medical school graduate of Boston University School of Medicine, completed his internship in general surgery at the University of California Irvine Medical Center and Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center and completed clinical anesthesiology residency at the Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He completed advanced clinical fellowship specialization in adult Critical Care Medicine (surgical focus) and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Expertise
Dr. Ghadimi's expertise and instruction spans across the cardiothoracic operating rooms and cardiothoracic surgical ICU environments. His expertise includes perioperative hemostasis & thrombosis, critical care of the heart or lung transplant recipient, and critical care for the patient on mechanical circulatory support, which may include extracorporeal life support (ECMO) or ventricular assist devices/systems.

Research Education
Dr. Ghadimi is a clinical and translational researcher and holds a Master in Health Sciences (M.H.Sc.) from the Duke-NIH Clinical Research Training Program. 

Cantrell

Sarah Cantrell

Prof Library Staff

Sarah Cantrell (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director for Research & Education at the Medical Center Library & Archives, and is responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating the Library's research and education programs. She is also the liaison to the Graduate Medical Education programs. Sarah serves as a Co-Director of Duke's national Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) workshop for clinicians and librarians. Before joining Duke, she worked at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, where she established a Clinical Librarian Program and joined inpatient care teams for teaching rounds, providing real-time evidence-based decision support and teaching at the point of care. Prior to WRNMMC, she was the Education Services Coordinator and Instruction Librarian at Georgetown University Medical Center's Dahlgren Memorial Library in Washington, DC. 

  • AHIP-D, Distinguished member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals
  • MLIS, Library & Information Studies, University of Wisconsin Madison 
  • BA, English Literature, University of Wisconsin Madison 
Von Isenburg

Megan Von Isenburg

Prof Library Staff

Megan is Associate Dean for Library Services & Archives at the School of Medicine. Megan is responsible for planning and implementing high quality information services and resources to support the missions of Duke Health. She provides leadership for the Duke University Medical Center Library, which serves as a resource library for the state of North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic region and is known for its innovations in health sciences librarianship and expertise in evidence-based practice. Von Isenburg also oversees the retention and preservation of institutional records through Medical Center Archives services. In addition to providing access to administrative records, the Archives capture the history of Duke Medicine through its record retention services.


Graduate Certificate in e-Learning, North Carolina State University (2011)
MSLS Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2004)
BA, American Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1997)
Gierisch

Jennifer M. Gierisch

Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences

Jennifer Gierisch, PhD,  is behavioral scientist and health services researcher. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Heath Sciences and the Department of Medicine at Duke University. She is a core investigator with the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT)  where she serves as the leader of the Partnered Research Methods Core (PRESTO)  and Director of the VA OAA Health Services Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr. Gierisch also is the Co-Director of the Evidence Synthesis Program (VA ESP) at the Durham Veteran Affairs Health Care System. She also served as a faculty director of the Duke Clinical Translational Science Institute's  Community Engaged Research Initiative (CeRi) for five years

Dr. Gierisch’s research focuses on three overarching areas: 1) behavioral research on the psychosocial factors that influence appropriate uptake and maintenance of complex health behaviors (eg., weight management, smoking cessation, cancer screening); 2) evidence synthesis on key health and healthcare topics to enhance uptake of evidence-based interventions to improve patient and health system outcomes; and 3) participatory and  community engaged research approaches.

Area of expertise: health behavior, community-engaged research, evidence synthesis, intervention development,  qualitative research

Williams

John Wiley Williams

Professor Emeritus of Medicine

John Williams, MD, MHS, is a Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and a past recipient of VA Health Services Career Development and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Faculty Scholar Awards. He received his bachelor and MD degrees from the University of North Carolina. Dr. Williams completed residency training at the University of Iowa and a research fellowship at Duke University. He is a primary care internist who is trained in epidemiology, biostatistics, and literature synthesis. Dr. Williams’ topical interests include depression, mental health services, dementia and implementation of best practices. He is a medical editor for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Evidence-base Practice Program. Dr. Williams is Senior Science Advisor to the Durham VA Evidence Synthesis Program and has led numerous systematic reviews, many focusing on mental health services. Dr. Williams is board certified in Internal Medicine and active in clinical practice and resident physician education at the Durham VAMC.


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