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Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission


@stuyvesant wrote:

I have promised myself, when this is over and if I'm lucky enough to still be around, I am buying myself the biggest, best N95 mask I can find.  Multiples of them.

 

I am going to put them in a special pandemic box, along with my hastily made, Hunan produced surgical masks (which I prefer to the cloth masks) along with some other pandemic items as mementos.

 

And may I then never have cause to open that box again.


@stuyvesant,, may I delicately suggest throwing some TP in as well.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,462
Registered: ‎04-20-2013

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission

Masks protect others. That’s why doctor/nurses wear them in ORs. We both wear masks we protect each other.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,775
Registered: ‎07-09-2011

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission

[ Edited ]

@QueenDanceALot wrote:

Another mask fight?

 

Oh, I just a really pretty one today from LOVE KUZA.

 

Not only pretty but it fits really nicely.


@QueenDanceALot 

 

 

Yes,

 

‘The MASK’

    and

It’s no worse than the ‘FLU’

 

Often raised and flagged endlessly, to distract from many unfortunate truths of the Pandemic our country is facing.

 

The Numbers Don’t Lie.

     77,925 ~ RIP

 

"Animals are not my whole world, but they have made my world whole" ~ Roger Caras
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,970
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission

So according to this study @Mindy D

 

"adherence to use of the P2 or surgical masks significantly reduces the risk for ILI (influenza like illnesses) with a hazard ratio of 0.26".    However, there was low adherence in many households.  But for those that did adhere to using the mask it did decrease the transmission of the disease their household children acquired.  

 

Not surprised to see a p value closer to statistical significance for the P2 mask than the surgical masks.  But both arms of the study with adherence did decrease transmission.  Not surprised either to see that the P2 arm had a lower adherence.  Those masks are compatible to the N95 masks here and they can be very difficult to wear for long periods of time. 

 

That is evidenced by the pictures in the beginning here of the nurses and doctors with creases and bruises on their faces from wearing the same N95 masks for hours and hours.  We are used to wearing them for one time in the patient's room then removing and putting another one on when you have to go back into the room.  These guys have to wear them for hours at a time.

 

BTW, there is an article submitted for publication in which experts in Austria discuss that mandating wearing masks in the public with strong adherence by the population, decreased their covid-19 infections by 90% within 2 weeks.  Not sure when that article will be published with their research.

 

But there is an article in Science that does discuss the overall Austria situation.  The Czech Republic and Slovakia are also saying their very low infection rates is attributed to mandating the public to wear masks early when their cases occurred. 

 

They are maintaining that the US and the UK have such high infection rates due to not mandating and enforcing wearing masks in public.

 

I am pretty sure that overall article was in Science.  But looking forward to reading the specific analysis coming from Austria.


* Freedom has a taste the protected will never know *
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,970
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission

@Mindy D, I found the article.  It had been a couple of days since I read it but google works again!  Here it is:

 

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/25410/20200421/austria-90-drop-coronavirus-cases-requiring-peo... 


* Freedom has a taste the protected will never know *
Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission


@pitdakota wrote:

@Mindy D, I found the article.  It had been a couple of days since I read it but google works again!  Here it is:

 

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/25410/20200421/austria-90-drop-coronavirus-cases-requiring-peo... 


@pitdakota, just to make sure, which types of masks were studied? Were they medical grade or also cloth masks?


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,488
Registered: ‎04-18-2013

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission

It has really been irritating me lately that masks are "suggested" but not mandated.

 

Namby Pamby isn't going to get it done.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,602
Registered: ‎10-01-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission


@pitdakota wrote:

So according to this study @Mindy D

 

"adherence to use of the P2 or surgical masks significantly reduces the risk for ILI (influenza like illnesses) with a hazard ratio of 0.26".    However, there was low adherence in many households.  But for those that did adhere to using the mask it did decrease the transmission of the disease their household children acquired.  

 

Not surprised to see a p value closer to statistical significance for the P2 mask than the surgical masks.  But both arms of the study with adherence did decrease transmission.  Not surprised either to see that the P2 arm had a lower adherence.  Those masks are compatible to the N95 masks here and they can be very difficult to wear for long periods of time. 

 

That is evidenced by the pictures in the beginning here of the nurses and doctors with creases and bruises on their faces from wearing the same N95 masks for hours and hours.  We are used to wearing them for one time in the patient's room then removing and putting another one on when you have to go back into the room.  These guys have to wear them for hours at a time.

 

BTW, there is an article submitted for publication in which experts in Austria discuss that mandating wearing masks in the public with strong adherence by the population, decreased their covid-19 infections by 90% within 2 weeks.  Not sure when that article will be published with their research.

 

But there is an article in Science that does discuss the overall Austria situation.  The Czech Republic and Slovakia are also saying their very low infection rates is attributed to mandating the public to wear masks early when their cases occurred. 

 

They are maintaining that the US and the UK have such high infection rates due to not mandating and enforcing wearing masks in public.

 

I am pretty sure that overall article was in Science.  But looking forward to reading the specific analysis coming from Austria.


We were told at the beginning of this pandemic masks weren't needed,actually may make things worse.  First it's this then it's that,confusion reigns.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,970
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission

@MoJoV, I don't think it is confusion so much as their understanding of how this virus is transmitted and being at different stages of mitigation evolves as they learn more about the infection.   

 

If people are pretty much locked down and not going out along with those that are working are using social distancing, the influenza virus can be contained fairly effectively as well as the SARS virus.  But then they were finding out this virus was more contagious than they thought previously.

 

The previous SARS virus didn't have that high of a level of infectivity, but it was more deadly as they are finding out now with this coronavirus.  Since they had never dealt with this particular virus, it made sense at the time to react to the virus as if it was very similar to SARS.  As  more and more cases occurred, they learned it was acting different than SARS in how contagious it was and also the clinical pathophysiology of the disease.  The coronavirus is not as deadly as SARS, but many of the complications they are seeing today with this virus were not found with SARS.  Probably because the people died so quickly with SARS.  So while it isn't as deadly as SARS, they are seeing all kinds of clinical sequalae that they have not seen previously with viral infections.  They are learning about that as well and changing practice based on what they are learning.  

 

Research that has come out of China, Italy, and South Korea has offered quite a bit of information that changed thinking and recommendations.  Geez, that stuff happens all the time with all kinds of things.  Not just infectious disease.

 

I imagine it was quite sobering when they learned of the analysis of contact tracing in South Korea in which one woman attending a couple of church services on that same day led to 1,000 cases.  Pretty sobering that it can be that contagious!  Stops you in your tracks.  

 

So as more information comes along recommendations will change and they get better at understanding what they are seeing, how to deal with it, and better ways to deal with the situation.

 

Geez, that happens in all kinds of things.  Even something like learning to knit.  The more one learns about knitting, the better they get and they learn better strategies that work for them when knitting.

 

These things about well they told us this and then changed.  Yes!!  And that is what you want them to do.  How would you like it if they learned information that should have changed recommendations and didn't tell the public so that more infections continued to happen?

.  

 

 

 

 

 


* Freedom has a taste the protected will never know *
Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Research on masks and effectiveness in preventing virus transmission


@pitdakota wrote:

So according to this study @Mindy D

 

"adherence to use of the P2 or surgical masks significantly reduces the risk for ILI (influenza like illnesses) with a hazard ratio of 0.26".    However, there was low adherence in many households.  But for those that did adhere to using the mask it did decrease the transmission of the disease their household children acquired.  

 

Not surprised to see a p value closer to statistical significance for the P2 mask than the surgical masks.  But both arms of the study with adherence did decrease transmission.  Not surprised either to see that the P2 arm had a lower adherence.  Those masks are compatible to the N95 masks here and they can be very difficult to wear for long periods of time. 

 

That is evidenced by the pictures in the beginning here of the nurses and doctors with creases and bruises on their faces from wearing the same N95 masks for hours and hours.  We are used to wearing them for one time in the patient's room then removing and putting another one on when you have to go back into the room.  These guys have to wear them for hours at a time.

 

BTW, there is an article submitted for publication in which experts in Austria discuss that mandating wearing masks in the public with strong adherence by the population, decreased their covid-19 infections by 90% within 2 weeks.  Not sure when that article will be published with their research.

 

But there is an article in Science that does discuss the overall Austria situation.  The Czech Republic and Slovakia are also saying their very low infection rates is attributed to mandating the public to wear masks early when their cases occurred. 

 

They are maintaining that the US and the UK have such high infection rates due to not mandating and enforcing wearing masks in public.

 

I am pretty sure that overall article was in Science.  But looking forward to reading the specific analysis coming from Austria.


@pitdakota @I'll be reading. Finally, someone else that is interested.