3 ms·

>Wearing an N95 mask and washing your hands properly will prevent the overwhelming majority of transmission. My understanding is that there is no evidence wear

>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.
    - Fomite 7y ago
      Agreed, but many of these studies were done in a medical context, which is close to a best-case scenario in terms of training for the use of an N95.
      - Enginerrrd 7y ago
        Yes, except that studies showed surgical masks are likely as effective, which strongly suggests that precise fit confirmed by a fit-test probably isn't necessary.

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.
  - Fomite 7y ago
    Agreed, but many of these studies were done in a medical context, which is close to a best-case scenario in terms of training for the use of an N95.
    - Enginerrrd 7y ago
      Yes, except that studies showed surgical masks are likely as effective, which strongly suggests that precise fit confirmed by a fit-test probably isn't necessary.