Masks Are a Proven Way to Defend Yourself from Respiratory Infections

The following essay is covered in The Conversation, an online publication.

The cold and flu season began with a bang. The flu and respiratory syncytial virus, orRSV, which have been rare over the past three years, are reappearing at high levels. The hospitalization levels for flu in November were the highest in a decade.

We have spent our careers studying how viruses spread and how to stop them, and we are infectious disease epidemiologists.

We and our public health colleagues have had to quickly revive and apply decades of evidence on respiratory virus transmission to chart a path forward. The face mask is one of the most effective ways to control respiratory Viruses in a Pandemic and has been for a long time.

The surge of respiratory disease this fall is not the result of a single novel virus as has been the case in the past. The US has returned to the traditional cold and flu season pattern now that masks and other measures have stopped being used. In a typical year, many viruses cocirculate and cause the same symptoms, leading to a wave of illness that includes ever-changing combinations of more than 15 types.

Young children are the most obvious examples of this pattern being obvious. According to our research, classrooms house many viruses at once, and that individual kids can be exposed to two or three Viruses even during a single Illness.

Respiratory Viruses like the seasonal flu can cause missed work and school. They can lead to serious illnesses in young and old people. After years of fighting a single disease, parents are tired of fighting many more.

There is a simple way to reduce the risk. When it comes to individual decisions, masks are among the most low-cost and effective steps that can be taken to reduce the transmission of a variety of Viruses.

Researchers were studying the effectiveness of masks to reduce the spread of other respiratory viruses. One disease was averted for every six people who wore a mask and three people who wore an N95 mask.

Health care workers wearing masks have long been considered to be the best way to protect young at-risk infants from infections. The scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of masks has been clouded by the fact that mask-wearing is often used in conjunction with other strategies. The use of personal protective equipment, including masks, as well as gowns, gloves and goggles in the health care setting has been associated with reduced transmission of the respiratory syncytial virus.

One of the largest randomized studies of mask-wearing was conducted with over a thousand University of Michigan residence hall students. This was true when masks were used.

Researchers measured the amount of virus present in exhaled breath from people with respiratory symptoms to find out how well masks block the release of virus particles. The people who were randomly selected to wear a mask had lower levels of respiratory shed than the people who didn't wear a mask.

Evidence around masks and our experience using them has grown more and more. Studies have shown that masks reduce the amount of virus that enters the air when we breathe. Studies show that wearing a surgical mask in an indoor public setting reduces the odds of testing positive for COVID-19 by 34% and that wearing an N95/KN95 type of mask lowers the odds of testing positive by 83%.

Infections drop when schoolchildren are masked

The impact of mask-wearing on the transmission of Viruses has been shown in our own research. In the fall of 2021, we found that a reduction in COVID-19 infections was linked to the requirement of schoolwide masks. In the early weeks of the school year, children living in districts without mask requirements were more likely to be exposed to the disease than their counterparts in districts with full mask requirements. There were similar patterns in other states when the school mask requirements were lifted.

The rate of non-COVID respiratory illness in families fell by 50% between 2020 and 2021. The viruses that are now gripping the U.S. began to return as participants reported the relaxing of mask-wearing and other Mitigation behaviors. The four common cold coronaviruses came back to life.

There are only two causes of respiratory illness that can be treated with a vaccine. For example, antiviral treatments are more often used for the flu than for the respiratory syncytial virus. The current wave of illness will not be helped by the soon to be availableRSV vaccines.

There is no need to tailor the intervention to the specific virus that is circulating if you wear a mask. For the time that we value with our family and friends, masks remain a low-cost, low-tech way to keep people healthy during the holidays.

The conversation published this article. The original article is worth a read.