Should CPAP use be curtailed during this pandemic?

[intrepidity]

Just read another thread that raises a very disturbing prospect: that a CPAP machine aerosolizes virus when used by infected people.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/114222954

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/27/822211604/cpap-machines-were-seen-as-ventilator-alternatives-but-could-spread-covid-19

So, someone using the device for sleep apnea, who may unknowingly be Covid-19 positive, but asymptomatic, could inadvertantly be spreading the virus very effectively to housemates.

I wonder what role this device may be playing in the spread of coronavirus??

[Separation]

1. Saw on the news

Where hospitals are asking people to donate their Cpap machines because of the lack of respirators. So not sure how that works.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. I guess if they were used in isolation/negative pressure rooms

They could still theoretically, hopefully, be of some use to some infected patients but WHAT ABOUT THE NURSES who will be asked to care for them, likely without the kind of PPE needed for staying safe from an aerosolized deadly virus?

[Maru Kitteh]

2. My FIL's son died because he took a nap without wearing his CPAP.

So sometimes there are no good options here.

[intrepidity]

9. Agreed.

Good to be aware of all angles, though.

[nolabear]

3. No, it just says don't share them or use as ventilators.

Does bring up a question re ionizers as cleaners though. I use one and it’s supposed to kill virtually all bacteria. Not sure re viruses. But if so can PPEs be cleaned ionically?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. The CPAP might filter the air before you inhale, but what you exhale ...

... goes into the room unfiltered. And it's pushed out with extra pressure, so probably more then six feet.

Or so it seems to me.

[nolabear]

12. Yeah, I guess. Though you do exhale into the chamber.

CPAPs are weird af. I had to get used to the fact I had to keep my mouth firmly shut so air just wouldn’t rush out of it all the time. I still think CPAP didgeridoo should be a thing. 😄

[GulfCoast66]

4. I am only 53 and healthy. Slight high blood pressure since I was 35.

Still look good according to my wife and she is not the flattering type. At all.

But I have severe apnea. I would risk death without it. And would not really be able to sleep.

[roamer65]

6. Since I am single, I don't hafta worry.

[gibraltar72]

7. They are life savers.

My Son in law got a call from his Cpap people telling him to call a doctor immediately. Heart bypass ensued.

[csziggy]

8. As contagious as this virus seems to be, anyone in the same household is already exposed

So why would an apnea sufferer weaken their system by not using their device?

[intrepidity]

10. Not sure. Just bringing up the info.

To be used accordingly.