key: cord-0874484-u9v7gp37
authors: Zhang, Xiao; Shao, Fuqiang; Lan, Xiaoli
title: Suggestions for safety and protection control in Department of Nuclear Medicine during the outbreak of COVID-19
date: 2020-03-25
journal: Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging
DOI: 10.1007/s00259-020-04779-x
sha: ad1220364b20f24bf524407a59c7802c4dbad892
doc_id: 874484
cord_uid: u9v7gp37

nan

population, and ensure medical quality and safety. At the center of epidemic area, Wuhan, China, some preventives measures have been taken in our department.

It is important to recognize and classify all patients. Patients with confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19 should be invited to postpone the radiopharmaceutical imaging and treatment. If radiopharmaceutical imaging is really necessary for them, it is recommended to arrange them in an isolated room equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air filter. Furthermore, the patient should be scheduled as the last one of the day, in order to avoid cross infection. All patients and accompanying persons must wear a protective mask during the entire examination. It is important to try to shorten the examination time and limit the patients' activities.

During the outbreak of COVID-19, all medical personnel should wear the medical uniform, cap, and mask. Hand hygiene is very important. For the medical staffs who inject the radiopharmaceuticals to the patients with confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19, safety goggles or face shield, isolation gown, disposable latex gloves, and shoe covers are needed. If special treatments (such as sputum aspiration and specimen collection) are performed in an emergency, upgraded protections for respiratory and eyes are necessary [7] . The operating table, instruments (SPECT, SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR), and the environment must be cleaned and disinfected promptly.

In Wuhan, the center of the epidemic area, particular attention is paid to avoid the exposure to coronavirus in the Department of Nuclear Medicine. In our department, patients are required to perform chest CT and RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, to exclude the diagnosis of COVID-19 before radiopharmaceutical imaging. In non-endemic areas, it is also necessary to recognize and classify all patients, verify the history and clinical symptoms of every patient. We hope our experience could help to safely conduct the nuclear medicine work, reduce the risk of disease transmission, and guarantee the medical quality and safety. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Letter to the Editor * Xiaoli Lan xiaoli_lan@hust.edu.cn; lxl730724@hotmail.com

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