3 ms·
No, the first study I cited states: > There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infe
by blisseyGo 6y ago
No, the first study I cited states:
> There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure.
And the later study states non-N95 masks allow 97%.
- yodon 6y agoThe Xiao, et al study you refer to is a historical literature review of transmission of prior non-Covid-19 viruses. It is unclear if the historical studies involved social distancing or close proximity (critical to current understanding of Covid-19 mask efficacy) and it is concerning that the paper reports "most studies were underpowered because of sample size and some studies also reported suboptimal adherence in the face mask group." More importantly, Covid-19 appears to have different transmission characteristics than other influenza style viruses, making literature reviews such as the one you cite less predictive of Covid-19 behaviors than would often have been the case with other viruses. The paper is interesting but it's definitely not supported by their data to say the paper shows masks worn by infected individuals are ineffective at reducing the spread of Covid-19 in a social distance context. [edit: updated with additional detail from the cited paper]