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Sadly the article itself conflates N95 respirators with surgical/home-made masks. Former protect the wearer; latter protect others (primarily). >the health de

Sadly the article itself conflates N95 respirators with surgical/home-made masks. Former protect the wearer; latter protect others (primarily). >the health department there does not recommend that people without illness wear a mask, both because the benefit is uncertain and because there’s a shortage of face masks for health-care workers. Better to never write "respirator mask" nor "face mask". Those terms perpetuate the confusion.

matthewbauer 7y ago
Shouldn't any covering help? Like catching 50% is much better than 0%, even if the N95 can catch 95% of particles.
- BuckRogers 7y ago
  Masks offer very limited protection. It’s similar to wearing medieval platemail to protect against a high powered rifle. Partial protection at best. Direct sneezes or coughs right in front of you are safer but you also need eye protection. That still leaves the ears open and microabrasians on your skin. False confidence with the expectation they’re safe with an N95 mask is even worse than no mask at all. It’s like those kids in the news some years ago that held up a book to stop a bullet and killed someone. If you wear the mask in a constrained area with a group of people, such as an elevator, you may as well not even have it on. The only sure way to not get the virus is avoiding people.
  - jobigoud 7y ago
    Ears aren't connected to the respiratory system. Lacrimal ducts are, that's why eye protection is important. The virus doesn't enter your lungs through your skin pores either.
    - DoreenMichele 7y ago
      Ears are directly connected to the sinuses (via the Eustachian tubes), which is part of the upper respiratory system. There's a reason we have Eye, Ear, Nose, Throat doctors. It's all connected.
      - aznumeric 7y ago
        As far as I know ear, nose, throat doctors (Otolaryngologists) don't treat eyes and they are called 'Ear, Nose, Throat' doctors, there's no eye in the name. Doctors that treat eyes are Ophthalmologists and Optometrists.
        DoreenMichele 7y ago
        https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/EENT https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/EENT It's possible it has fallen out of favor. I'm a tad on the old side.
      - BuckRogers 7y ago
        You're correct, but to add further qualification to your correct assertion- it doesn't matter if they're connected or not. All a pathogen has to do is enter the body by any means, not have direct access to the respiratory system on entry.
        dwaltrip 7y ago
        I believe this is false. My understanding is that viruses often target specific cells, such as the way the coronavirus targets the aveoli cells in your lungs.
        BuckRogers 7y ago
        Some viruses are more tissue-specific than others. But viruses do not reach, they passively float until it can jump to cell it can hook up with so it just needs to get into your system.
        dwaltrip 7y ago
        Yep, I didn't mean "target" in any sort of active way, just functionally. I understand their mechanism is passive.
    - BuckRogers 7y ago
      You'd be wrong. That's why I mentioned abrasions on your skin. I didn't say on normal, healthy skin that it penetrates. Viruses can penetrate mucous membranes (the inside of your ear). Mucous membranes are the top spot where most diseases enter to the body. From there they enter to blood stream and spread to tissues, where ever they can spread. Other folks already corrected the mistaken belief on your ears. They are connected. That said, I'm not sure why you think that matters? It has no importance when we're talking about a pathogen entering the body.
whycombagator 7y ago
> N95 respirators with surgical/home-made masks. Former protect the wearer; latter protect others (primarily). Source? I think if you use disposable masks or correctly sanitize[0] a homemade mask after each use, the mask will act to protect yourself and others. There was an interesting article posted recently comparing the efficacy of surgical masks with household materials[1] - to give a rough idea of how effective a homemade mask might be. You can also find an interesting comparison of N95 with surgical masks on the same site[2] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22680799 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22680799 [1] https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-... [2] https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/n95-mask-surgical-prevent-transmission-coronavirus/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/n95-mask-surgical-preven...

matthewbauer 7y ago

Shouldn't any covering help? Like catching 50% is much better than 0%, even if the N95 can catch 95% of particles.

BuckRogers 7y ago
Masks offer very limited protection. It’s similar to wearing medieval platemail to protect against a high powered rifle. Partial protection at best. Direct sneezes or coughs right in front of you are safer but you also need eye protection. That still leaves the ears open and microabrasians on your skin. False confidence with the expectation they’re safe with an N95 mask is even worse than no mask at all. It’s like those kids in the news some years ago that held up a book to stop a bullet and killed someone. If you wear the mask in a constrained area with a group of people, such as an elevator, you may as well not even have it on. The only sure way to not get the virus is avoiding people.
- jobigoud 7y ago
  Ears aren't connected to the respiratory system. Lacrimal ducts are, that's why eye protection is important. The virus doesn't enter your lungs through your skin pores either.
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    Ears are directly connected to the sinuses (via the Eustachian tubes), which is part of the upper respiratory system. There's a reason we have Eye, Ear, Nose, Throat doctors. It's all connected.
    - aznumeric 7y ago
      As far as I know ear, nose, throat doctors (Otolaryngologists) don't treat eyes and they are called 'Ear, Nose, Throat' doctors, there's no eye in the name. Doctors that treat eyes are Ophthalmologists and Optometrists.
      - DoreenMichele 7y ago
        https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/EENT https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/EENT It's possible it has fallen out of favor. I'm a tad on the old side.
    - BuckRogers 7y ago
      You're correct, but to add further qualification to your correct assertion- it doesn't matter if they're connected or not. All a pathogen has to do is enter the body by any means, not have direct access to the respiratory system on entry.
      - dwaltrip 7y ago
        I believe this is false. My understanding is that viruses often target specific cells, such as the way the coronavirus targets the aveoli cells in your lungs.
        BuckRogers 7y ago
        Some viruses are more tissue-specific than others. But viruses do not reach, they passively float until it can jump to cell it can hook up with so it just needs to get into your system.
        dwaltrip 7y ago
        Yep, I didn't mean "target" in any sort of active way, just functionally. I understand their mechanism is passive.
  - BuckRogers 7y ago
    You'd be wrong. That's why I mentioned abrasions on your skin. I didn't say on normal, healthy skin that it penetrates. Viruses can penetrate mucous membranes (the inside of your ear). Mucous membranes are the top spot where most diseases enter to the body. From there they enter to blood stream and spread to tissues, where ever they can spread. Other folks already corrected the mistaken belief on your ears. They are connected. That said, I'm not sure why you think that matters? It has no importance when we're talking about a pathogen entering the body.

whycombagator 7y ago

> N95 respirators with surgical/home-made masks. Former protect the wearer; latter protect others (primarily). Source? I think if you use disposable masks or correctly sanitize[0] a homemade mask after each use, the mask will act to protect yourself and others. There was an interesting article posted recently comparing the efficacy of surgical masks with household materials[1] - to give a rough idea of how effective a homemade mask might be. You can also find an interesting comparison of N95 with surgical masks on the same site[2] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22680799 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22680799 [1] https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-... [2] https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/n95-mask-surgical-prevent-transmission-coronavirus/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/n95-mask-surgical-preven...