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As someone who takes regular flights on planes I find this disturbing.

by geggam 7y ago

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Enginerrrd 7y ago
Wearing an N95 mask and washing your hands properly will prevent the overwhelming majority of transmission. Could someone still sneeze in your eye? Sure. Could you wear your mask improperly because you haven't been fit tested, yeah. But you sure can reduce your risk a lot.
- 0xff00ffee 7y ago
  I just googled N95: I have a bunch of those in my toolshed! They look ominous. :) But I have 12 flights in the next 5 weeks from US to Europe to Israel so I may have to risk looking like a weirdo.
- ohazi 7y ago
  > Could you wear your mask improperly because you haven't been fit tested, yeah. It is next to impossible to wear an N95 mask correctly.
  - Enginerrrd 7y ago
    They come in a lot of different flavors. I have been fit-tested several times with success. Some are definitely easier than others. Do I think that every 0.3 micron or above particle is getting filtered out by the mask for the duration that I wear one? Not really, but I do believe confidently that it is getting the vast majority. Certainly enough to measurably reduce risk.
  - Fomite 7y ago
    It's also not at all clear that N95 masks are meaningfully superior to surgical masks. One of several studies on the topic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/
- anonuser123456 7y ago
  >Wearing an N95 mask and washing your hands properly will prevent the overwhelming majority of transmission. My understanding is that there is no evidence wearing an N95 mask reduces transmission to the person wearing it. It prevents transmission from the that person to others.
  - Enginerrrd 7y ago
    No, this is very wrong. You're thinking of surgical mask, in which case the standard precautions conform to what you said in their intent, and studies show both are actually effective in preventing transmission when worn by patients. [1] An N95 is the current recommended standard (for medical works to wear) to prevent droplet transmission when working with high-risk patients on respiratory precautions since it is actually capable of filtering particles (like airborne droplets originating from the respiratory tract) down to 0.3 microns. These have been shown to be effective.[2] Interestingly, some studies show surgical masks are also effective. A surgical mask is, I believe, still the standard to place on high risk patients on respiratory precautions to help prevent dissemination of droplets. [1]https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/49/2/275/405108 https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/49/2/275/405108 [2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/
    - Fomite 7y ago
      From your second citation: "Although N95 respirators appeared to have a protective advantage over surgical masks in laboratory settings, our meta-analysis showed that there were insufficient data to determine definitively whether N95 respirators are superior to surgical masks in protecting health care workers against transmissible acute respiratory infections in clinical settings."
      - cameldrv 7y ago
        Insufficient data to show that N95 is better than a surgical mask, not insufficient data that N95 works. My guess is that whether the mask fits and makes a good seal, whether the user wears it consistently, and whether the user washes his hands before handling food or touching his mouth or nose all matter a lot more than the type of mask.

As someone who takes regular flights on planes I find this disturbing.

by geggam 7y ago

As someone who takes regular flights on planes I find this disturbing.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Enginerrrd 7y ago

Wearing an N95 mask and washing your hands properly will prevent the overwhelming majority of transmission. Could someone still sneeze in your eye? Sure. Could you wear your mask improperly because you haven't been fit tested, yeah. But you sure can reduce your risk a lot.

0xff00ffee 7y ago
I just googled N95: I have a bunch of those in my toolshed! They look ominous. :) But I have 12 flights in the next 5 weeks from US to Europe to Israel so I may have to risk looking like a weirdo.
ohazi 7y ago
> Could you wear your mask improperly because you haven't been fit tested, yeah. It is next to impossible to wear an N95 mask correctly.
- Enginerrrd 7y ago
  They come in a lot of different flavors. I have been fit-tested several times with success. Some are definitely easier than others. Do I think that every 0.3 micron or above particle is getting filtered out by the mask for the duration that I wear one? Not really, but I do believe confidently that it is getting the vast majority. Certainly enough to measurably reduce risk.
- Fomite 7y ago
  It's also not at all clear that N95 masks are meaningfully superior to surgical masks. One of several studies on the topic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/
anonuser123456 7y ago
>Wearing an N95 mask and washing your hands properly will prevent the overwhelming majority of transmission. My understanding is that there is no evidence wearing an N95 mask reduces transmission to the person wearing it. It prevents transmission from the that person to others.
- Enginerrrd 7y ago
  No, this is very wrong. You're thinking of surgical mask, in which case the standard precautions conform to what you said in their intent, and studies show both are actually effective in preventing transmission when worn by patients. [1] An N95 is the current recommended standard (for medical works to wear) to prevent droplet transmission when working with high-risk patients on respiratory precautions since it is actually capable of filtering particles (like airborne droplets originating from the respiratory tract) down to 0.3 microns. These have been shown to be effective.[2] Interestingly, some studies show surgical masks are also effective. A surgical mask is, I believe, still the standard to place on high risk patients on respiratory precautions to help prevent dissemination of droplets. [1]https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/49/2/275/405108 https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/49/2/275/405108 [2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/
  - Fomite 7y ago
    From your second citation: "Although N95 respirators appeared to have a protective advantage over surgical masks in laboratory settings, our meta-analysis showed that there were insufficient data to determine definitively whether N95 respirators are superior to surgical masks in protecting health care workers against transmissible acute respiratory infections in clinical settings."
    - cameldrv 7y ago
      Insufficient data to show that N95 is better than a surgical mask, not insufficient data that N95 works. My guess is that whether the mask fits and makes a good seal, whether the user wears it consistently, and whether the user washes his hands before handling food or touching his mouth or nose all matter a lot more than the type of mask.