Sorry for the emphatic, click-bait headline, but that’s the headline I expect news outlets will report in the coming days.
Why? Because the CDC actually investigated “all” the published data on the effectiveness of personal face masks and concluded there’s no evidence that they actually work to stop the spread of pathogens.
Now I’m not a medical expert and not involved in medicine, but here’s a chart, courtesy of the Anesthesia Infomatics and Media Lab at Stanford Medicine, prepared for their medical staff:
Caption: Click for a much larger image
I recommend reading the complete paper, available for free here, which answers questions from medical personnel who are people with the same concerns and questions as everyone else (except, they’re working long, hard, hours on the front lines to save lives and stop a pandemic…thank you!)
If you have a medical background here’s the research paper (“Davies“) used by Stanford Medicine to construct the chart, and it’s also available as a free full-text download.
Now, before you blindly believe a headline designed to sell news, kindly remember:
(1) the only things guaranteed in life are Death and Taxes (and, unlike taxes, we’re working to postpone the first one as long as possible), and
(b) life involves risk, and living life means assuming some risk
Wearing a mask isn’t going to be 100% effective but it’s a lot better than not wearing one at all. Even if it only provides psychological value.
And, to end on good news, CDC’s literature review does report one hygiene method effective against influenza:
So, it appears Moms everywhere throughout history were right all along (as usual): “Wash your hands!”, “Don’t pick that up off the ground!”, and “Don’t touch your face with dirty hands!”
Thanks for Reading! (and, wash your hands!)
