TOP STORY: University of Minnesota special pathogen training heightened by monkeypox
Drs. Jeff Dichter and Susan Kline in the Department of Medicine spoke with the Star Tribune about a drill to practice providing routine care to patients with highly infectious diseases at M Health Fairview's University of Minnesota Medical Center. Viruses such as monkeypox spread through contact, leading to the use of protective gowns, three pairs of gloves that were then cinched to their gowns with masking tape, hoodies attached to a respirator, and then finally aprons that were tied around the air hoses running down their backs. Dichter says, “It does limit your dexterity a little, your mobility a little, your vision a little.”
The drill was a quarterly training that had been implemented since 2014 due to the surge of ebola cases. With ten monkeypox cases in Minnesota already, this training could be vital in avoiding any more contagion. Kline told the Star Tribune a lot of emphasis over the past two years has been on preventing the airborne spread of COVID-19/ “Doctors need refreshers on how to protect themselves from viruses such as monkeypox that spread through contact with infected fluids or surfaces,” Kline said.
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