Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Not all masks are created equal

Does it disturb anybody else that most of the members of the public on the news who are shown wearing masks are wearing them so that they have gaping holes in the sides, under the chin, or aren't even pulled up across the nose properly? 

Or that these probably aren't even masks designed to protect the wearer from respiratory transmission?

Most of the images we are getting from overseas show people whose masks are gaping wide at the sides, as if the infectious agents that can access your respiratory tract from the side are not as potent as those that you breathe in from the front. 

Has nobody shown these people how to wear their masks, or told them the masks that they should be wearing (not all masks are created equal), or are they figuring that any protection is better than no protection at all? 

3 comments:

PathDoc15 said...

These masks actually work much better at protecting the public from the wearer of the mask (if infected) rather than the other way around. I try to put one on everyone I come in contact with... hasn't been working well. For a healthy individual, hand washing is your best defense against infection.

The Girl said...

Good point. :)
I am used to the precautions that we use in dealing with TB patients (including duckbill face masks), so perhaps I'm being oversensitive.
Bring on the handwashing!

deluded said...

actually,

I have no idea.

but they sure are cuter than wearing gas masks!

maybe that, counts?