CPAP Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

COVID-19 INFORMATION & RESOURCES

Last Updated: Thursday, 9 April 2020, 6:37PM (NZDT)

For CPAP Therapy Users

For CPAP therapy users without COVID-19 and COVID-19 symptoms:

If you are not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, you can continue to use Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) as normal. CPAP use in the home is unlikely to affect individuals who do not have COVID-19 nor should it increase the risk to family contacts in the home as long as the CPAP user is not symptomatic and contagious.

A CPAP machine is a therapy device for treating sleep apnea. CPAP use doesn’t prevent you from contracting COVID-19. Please refer to your national healthcare authority or your medical professional for more information about COVID-19 and contamination prevention.

For CPAP therapy users with COVID-19 or COVID-19 symptoms:

If you have COVID-19 or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, it is important to talk to your healthcare professional before stopping CPAP therapy. CPAP use may slightly increase the risk of aerosolization of the virus which could increase the spreading of the virus to others. We therefore recommend that precautions are taken.

Precautions for family members should be as per the general recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centers of Disease Control (CDC).

See CDC advice, Get Your Household Ready for Coronavirus Disease 2019

CPAP device and mask cleaning:

Follow the cleaning instructions in your Use and Care Guide. However, please note that cleaning any device or mask according to instructions in the Use and Care Guides is not equivalent to disinfection or sterilization. Disinfection processes have been provided to your CPAP therapy provider.

If you do not have your Use and Care Guide, please refer to the relevant product page on our website.

For CPAP Therapy Healthcare Professionals

Multi-patient reprocessing of CPAP masks and devices:

For CPAP Masks

For multi-patient reprocessing of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare CPAP masks, please follow the instructions in our mask Disinfection and Sterilization guides. These are available on each of the relevant product pages on our website, or you can ask your local sales representative. These instructions have been validated to achieve high-level disinfection* or sterilization* of our masks.

The virus that causes COVID-19 is from the coronavirus family of enveloped viruses¹. These viruses are known to have a low resistance to microbicidal processes². Therefore, the recommended disinfection and sterilization methods are sufficient according to the relevant required processes, e.g. Cidex OPA™ or Sterrad™. For more information on Disinfection and Sterilization, see https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/pdf/guidelines/disinfection-guidelines-H.pdf.

For CPAP Devices

For multi-patient reprocessing of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare CPAP devices, components that are exposed to the air path should only be cleaned or disinfected according to the F&P Disinfection and Sterilization guides. These are available on each of the relevant product pages on our website, or you can ask your local sales representative.

If the Disinfection and Sterilization Guides across our product range cannot be followed, then single-patient use is recommended.

Information about aerosolization

There has been some concern among healthcare professionals about certain respiratory medical devices enabling the spread of COVID-19. CPAP therapy is not specifically named as an aerosol-generating procedure in the WHO Interim guidance for Infection prevention and control during health care when novel coronavirus infection is suspected³. However, there has been uncertainty about the potential creation of aerosols from all forms of non-invasive respiratory support.

The WHO interim guidelines for Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection when novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection is suspected⁴ state that recent publications suggest CPAP does not create widespread dispersion of exhaled air.  However, there is uncertainty about whether CPAP use could potentially increase the risk of aerosolization of the virus. We recommend that individuals take precautions outlined in the WHO guidelines.

*High-level disinfection is defined as complete elimination of all microorganisms in or on an instrument, except for all bacterial spores if large numbers are present.

*Sterilization is the complete elimination of all viable microorganisms

Cidex is a registered trademark of Advanced Sterilization Products, a division of Ethicon Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company.
Sterrad is a registered trademark of Advanced Sterilization Products, a division of Ethicon Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company.

Fehr AR, Perlman S. Coronaviruses: An Overview of Their Replication and Pathogenesis. Mol Biol. 2015; (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2438-7_1)
FDA. Reprocessing Medical Devices in Health Care Settings: Validation Methods and Labeling Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff. Available from: https://www.fda.gov/media/80265/download [Accessed 27th March 2020]
World Health Organization. Infection prevention and control during health care when novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection is suspected. Interim guidance. 25 January 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/infection-prevention-and-control-during-health-care-when-novel-coronavirus-(ncov)-infection-is-suspected-20200125 [Accessed 27th March 2020]
World Health Organization. Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection when novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection is suspected Interim guidance 28th January 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/clinical-management-of-severe-acute-respiratory-infection-when-novel-coronavirus-(ncov)-infection-is-suspected [Accessed 27th March 2020]