Health care workers safety.
In the published studies all bronchoscopies were performed in accordance to current guidelines using appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) including gown, face shield, eye protector, shoe cover, double gloves and filtering masks (FFP2/FFP3).18 Negative pression rooms and disposable bronchoscopes weren’t universally available although were used in the majority of centres (negative pressure rooms in 57%, 4/7 studies; disposable scopes in 67%, 6/9 studies).18 Among all published studies (646 patients, 1,034 bronchoscopies), only Torrego et al reported one case of infection in one bronchoscopist.18,43 Based on current evidence we can conclude that, if performed with appropriate PPE, bronchoscopy and BAL can be safely performed with minimal risk of infection for the health care workers.