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People try to convince me that "nobody could have known masks were effective for respiratory illness until the science came in" like the doctor's office didn't
by emodendroket 5y ago
People try to convince me that "nobody could have known masks were effective for respiratory illness until the science came in" like the doctor's office didn't have surgical masks specifically for people with flu-like illness well before anybody had ever heard of COVID-19.
- gopher_space 5y agoI mean, logically speaking, if one person is telling you to wear a mask and another person is telling you not to, you should probably be wearing two.
- chrischattin 5y agoMasks have been heavily studied re viral transmission and been show to have zero effect. It’s like people are ignoring the giant body of prior scientific research. Masks aren’t a new idea in medicine.
- andi999 5y agoCan you point to the publications which show the zero effect? Cursory scan found that there are effects: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2010.01428.x?casa_token=-Q6bp-7NdA0AAAAA%3AgIp4OWTEbLn6wn4Ku9jYZNiDEUJ6VvpzI2rMjlxBcvDkHQ5_p8Lsb1X9_dhMiqsrNKq7kqCyef7Qeg https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1539-6924...
- chrischattin 5y agoSure. Here’s a meta of 14 studies. But, there are hundreds saying the same thing… “In pooled analysis, we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.51–1.20; I2 = 30%, p = 0.25)” https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article Also note, what you posted is not a scientific study. It’s a made up model. Real world evidence is falling in line with previous scientific knowledge. Countries w/out mask mandates have no statistical difference in transmission, as expected. But, the whole thing has been politicized.
- andi999 5y agoEven that study believes that good masks help:"We did not consider the use of respirators in the community. Respirators are tight-fitting masks that can protect the wearer from fine particles (37) and should provide better protection against influenza virus exposures when properly worn because of higher filtration efficiency."
- chrischattin 5y agoThere are multiple studies cited.
- andi999 5y agoBurden of proof is usually on the person making a claim.
- chrischattin 5y agoRight. In this case, it’s on those arguing for mask mandates.
- jquery 5y agoThe same metastudy says hand washing isn’t statistically significant in stopping pandemic flu spread, but is careful to note that doesn’t mean it’s ok not to wash your hands. There are many other diseases which are prevented by washing your hands. Generalizing from influenza to COVID-19 seems like a big assumption.