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WHO issues new guidance on Ebola protective gear
Sri Lankan health workers wear protective gear as they attend a preparedness program for Ebola at the Infectious Disease Hospital for fever in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Oct.28, 2014. Airports in Asia have stepped up their defenses: screening passengers who have travelled from affected countries, taking any with high temperature for observation and trying to keep contact them with for 21 days, the incubation period. According to the World Health Organization, more than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola and nearly half of them have died. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
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Sri Lankan health workers wear protective gear as they attend a preparedness program for Ebola at the Infectious Disease Hospital for fever in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Oct.28, 2014. Airports in Asia have stepped up their defenses: screening passengers who have travelled from affected countries, taking any with high temperature for observation and trying to keep contact them with for 21 days, the incubation period. According to the World Health Organization, more than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola and nearly half of them have died. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
The U.N. health agency is updating its guidelines for health workers dealing with the deadly Ebola virus, recommending tougher measures such as doubling up on gloves and making sure the mouth, nose and eyes are better protected from contaminated droplets and fluids.
But the World Health Agency says the choice of equipment is much less important than the way it's used.
Dr. Edward Kelley, director of service delivery and safety for WHO, told reporters Friday the updated guidelines call for wearing one of two materials for gowns or coveralls and "an absolute recommendation for double-gloving that didn't exist before."
Doctors Without Borders already recommends some of its staff in high-risk jobs, like cleaning Ebola treatment centers or handling bodies of Ebola victims, wear two or three pairs of gloves.