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Ok, so, by "medical masks" they mean the cheap isolation masks that come 50 to a box and are in no way rated to block viruses? I've been told they make literal

Ok, so, by "medical masks" they mean the cheap isolation masks that come 50 to a box and are in no way rated to block viruses? I've been told they make literally no difference when it comes to the user becoming infected. Is this study indicating they're worth wearing if you can't get an N95 or P100 mask?

benjohnson 7y ago
You were told incorrectly. They help quite a bit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23498357 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23498357 Even home-made masks help quite a bit: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18612429/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18612429/
- Causality1 7y ago
  Wow. I wonder why it's such a persistent mantra here in the US. I've been needlessly ignoring valuable protection because of misinformation.
  - xiphias2 7y ago
    It's done by all authoritarian regimes on purpose. They want people to get sick to shorten the time to herd immunity. Of you don't care about pensioners dying, only getting to fully working economy the fastest, this may be a strategy to try. The only problem with this is that people get really scared after thousands of people die in their country from COVID, so I don't think that herd immunity strategy works.
interestica 7y ago
Told by whom?
- jplayer01 7y ago
  Plenty of people in the West are of the opinion that anything less than an N95 is useless. I know because I've argued with them and see comments everywhere to that effect. It doesn't help that the CDC and other Western health institutions have spoken against mask use.
- senectus1 7y ago
  I mean, if you're infected and cough its a physical barrier of sorts... it will reduce the amount of droplets in the air and def reduce sputum expelling. If you're not infected it'll help stop you touching your mouth and nose at the very least. These are not air filtration protections as such but they're def better than "no protection" and in their own way will help reduce the curve...
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  No doubt one of the many newly minted epidemiologists across the Internet ;-)
fulafel 7y ago
N95 masks are not rated for viruses either, the eponymous N95 standard test is about filtering NaCl.

benjohnson 7y ago

You were told incorrectly. They help quite a bit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23498357 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23498357 Even home-made masks help quite a bit: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18612429/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18612429/

Causality1 7y ago
Wow. I wonder why it's such a persistent mantra here in the US. I've been needlessly ignoring valuable protection because of misinformation.
- xiphias2 7y ago
  It's done by all authoritarian regimes on purpose. They want people to get sick to shorten the time to herd immunity. Of you don't care about pensioners dying, only getting to fully working economy the fastest, this may be a strategy to try. The only problem with this is that people get really scared after thousands of people die in their country from COVID, so I don't think that herd immunity strategy works.

interestica 7y ago

Told by whom?

jplayer01 7y ago
Plenty of people in the West are of the opinion that anything less than an N95 is useless. I know because I've argued with them and see comments everywhere to that effect. It doesn't help that the CDC and other Western health institutions have spoken against mask use.
senectus1 7y ago
I mean, if you're infected and cough its a physical barrier of sorts... it will reduce the amount of droplets in the air and def reduce sputum expelling. If you're not infected it'll help stop you touching your mouth and nose at the very least. These are not air filtration protections as such but they're def better than "no protection" and in their own way will help reduce the curve...
rootusrootus 7y ago
No doubt one of the many newly minted epidemiologists across the Internet ;-)

fulafel 7y ago

N95 masks are not rated for viruses either, the eponymous N95 standard test is about filtering NaCl.