Use of Gloves
With regard to hand covering, although wearing gloves was associated
with a lower risk of infection with SARS in some studies (70.2% and
67.3% of subjects wearing gloves),7 8 results have
been conflicting (47.6% and 37% of subjects wearing
gloves).10 14 The difference may be caused by the
different proportion of HCWs using gloves. A case-control study included
758 HCWs who cared for SARS patients and found that wearing two layers
of gloves (‘double gloving’) had a significantly enhanced protective
effect compared with wearing a single layer of gloves. Double gloving
serves two roles: firstly, it acts as an additional membrane should
there be a breach (Using differently coloured gloves for the outer
gloves may allow rapid identification of any breaches in glove
integrity). Secondly, it reduces the spread of viral droplets during
doffing of PPE.15 However no such additional
protective effect was found in wearing double layers of gowns,
multi-layered cotton masks, and head and foot
coverings.16