There's been non-inferiority trials that compare surgical to N95 for masks in healthcare settings. Surgical masks are non-inferior. Cochrane review references this. Vinay knows way more about this than you, hell I do.
Edit: Let me add that virus particles are smaller than what N95s are made to filter. They filter bacteria well though. Eve…
There's been non-inferiority trials that compare surgical to N95 for masks in healthcare settings. Surgical masks are non-inferior. Cochrane review references this. Vinay knows way more about this than you, hell I do.
Edit: Let me add that virus particles are smaller than what N95s are made to filter. They filter bacteria well though. Even in lab tests fit tested n95s let some virus contamination in.
Also, almost no one is actually fit testing those things I suspect. I can believe they would reduce your exposure if properly fitted, but not stop it for very long.
In three years, taking care of actual patients with Covid, my N 95 has never failed. I don’t think people wear them properly, I am hard-core. It’s hard to pick that up in pooled meta-analysis with sloppy mask wearing among individuals. Also, these individuals go home and then circulate in the community, usually with children going to schools with no masks, etc. Are you aware of any subset analysis of healthcare workers without children who also mask at supermarkets, airports, etc?
Please reply without any snarkiness, if people are able to do that on this website!
I also tend to think that a properly fitted N95 will protect the wearer for a while in the presence of virus-bearing aerosols. (The virus itself is small enough to go through the mask, but that's irrelevant since the virus doesn't float around bare, it's contained in droplets or aerosol particles mostly > .1micron).
Almost nobody I saw wearing N95s during the pandemic was wearing them with proper fit, and that includes healthcare workers. Probably you do wear yours well. But anyone with a beard, or who doesn't pinch the nose bridge, or whose mask is too big for their face (many petite women) ... it's just a decoration.
And given the RCT results and real-world experiences we've gained, it's clear that mandating mask-wearing does very little, if anything, to stop spread. THAT's the important point, not the technical issue of whether perfectly worn N95s block 95% of aerosol particles. But the pro-mask crowd seems to want to push mandates forever.
Sorry, I am a bit grouchy because I am trying to quit caffeine entirely.
I think that is part of the problem with masks, that the vast majority of people are not wearing them correctly. Plus, if you would have to keep it on your face even in your interactions with family members to truly be protected, assuming they're working at all.
It's certainly possible that a fit tested N95 is reducing your exposure enough that if you change them out frequently it could give you some edge in avoiding it, but I personally have hard time believing they're protecting you for long. Even a fit tested N95 allows for viral contamination in lab tests, just significantly less than one not fit tested
Keep in mind I have never caught COVID either and I don't really take any particular precautions. Some people don't seem to get infected by it also.
Maybe it is your mask though, but it's going to be very hard to prove that.
There's been non-inferiority trials that compare surgical to N95 for masks in healthcare settings. Surgical masks are non-inferior. Cochrane review references this. Vinay knows way more about this than you, hell I do.
Edit: Let me add that virus particles are smaller than what N95s are made to filter. They filter bacteria well though. Even in lab tests fit tested n95s let some virus contamination in.
Also, almost no one is actually fit testing those things I suspect. I can believe they would reduce your exposure if properly fitted, but not stop it for very long.
In three years, taking care of actual patients with Covid, my N 95 has never failed. I don’t think people wear them properly, I am hard-core. It’s hard to pick that up in pooled meta-analysis with sloppy mask wearing among individuals. Also, these individuals go home and then circulate in the community, usually with children going to schools with no masks, etc. Are you aware of any subset analysis of healthcare workers without children who also mask at supermarkets, airports, etc?
Please reply without any snarkiness, if people are able to do that on this website!
I also tend to think that a properly fitted N95 will protect the wearer for a while in the presence of virus-bearing aerosols. (The virus itself is small enough to go through the mask, but that's irrelevant since the virus doesn't float around bare, it's contained in droplets or aerosol particles mostly > .1micron).
Almost nobody I saw wearing N95s during the pandemic was wearing them with proper fit, and that includes healthcare workers. Probably you do wear yours well. But anyone with a beard, or who doesn't pinch the nose bridge, or whose mask is too big for their face (many petite women) ... it's just a decoration.
And given the RCT results and real-world experiences we've gained, it's clear that mandating mask-wearing does very little, if anything, to stop spread. THAT's the important point, not the technical issue of whether perfectly worn N95s block 95% of aerosol particles. But the pro-mask crowd seems to want to push mandates forever.
Sorry, I am a bit grouchy because I am trying to quit caffeine entirely.
I think that is part of the problem with masks, that the vast majority of people are not wearing them correctly. Plus, if you would have to keep it on your face even in your interactions with family members to truly be protected, assuming they're working at all.
It's certainly possible that a fit tested N95 is reducing your exposure enough that if you change them out frequently it could give you some edge in avoiding it, but I personally have hard time believing they're protecting you for long. Even a fit tested N95 allows for viral contamination in lab tests, just significantly less than one not fit tested
Keep in mind I have never caught COVID either and I don't really take any particular precautions. Some people don't seem to get infected by it also.
Maybe it is your mask though, but it's going to be very hard to prove that.