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Can masks save us from the swine flu?

Masks

It’s pretty common for people in Japan to wear surgical masks when they are sick or trying to protect themselves from illness, and the government has included the wearing of masks as a measure to be used by the general public if the swine flu comes to Japan.

An advisor to the British government does not agree about the usefulness of normal folks wearing masks:

Rosemary Leonard, a doctor who sits on the board of Britain’s Health Protection Agency — an independent organization which advises on preventing infectious diseases — said she doubted their use by the general public.

She told the Daily Express newspaper on Tuesday that after several hours of use the masks become damp through respiration and start to become porous, thereby potentially letting any virus in or out.

If they are used, they need to be changed every few hours in order to be effective and also disposed of efficiently in order to prevent the virus spreading, she advised.

“Everyone would need a new one twice a day so we would need a phenomenal amount. There is no scientific basis that they work and it is false reassurance,” she said. “Money could be better spent on anti- viral medication.”

Sounds like good advice, but masks would still probably be useful during commutes on packed rush hour trains and during long flights full of possible swine flu carriers.

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14 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 29, 2009 at 8:14 am

Categories: General Japan Tags:

john

Good post, as usual. Except the part where you insert your own medical view–aren’t you trying to get at the difference in knee-jerk medical theory and actual authoritative knowledge?

http://www.japanprobe.com James

The doctor’s advice criticizes the use of masks because they are only useful for short periods of time and must be frequently changed. She didn’t say anything about masks not being useful for the occasional short term use.

If the flu does come to Japan, packed Rush hour trains will be a perfect breeding ground for it – this is not a view I came to independently, it is something that has been repeated many times by experts on the news. Someone like Dr. Leonard, who probably doesn’t have to deal with something on the level of Japan’s crowded trains, is probably right in the advice she is giving to people in her own country.

As for airplanes: I have had the unfortunate experience of catching a (non-swine) flu from a sick person who was sitting near me on a flight. Wish I’d brought some masks with me on that flight.

MsP

After going through SARS panic in Asia, we were told the same advice as Dr Leonard suggests. I thought that a mask only lessens the risk of an INFECTED person’s germs being spread by droplet (sneezing, coughing) and does not actually protect the WEARER from anything. Hence the socially responsible Japanese habit of wearing a mask when infected with a cold/flu does provide some protection of others.

Washing hands frequently and not touching face are recommended precautions, or stay home on internet all day, never go out and obsess about the flu you will never get in isolation!

Thanks for post James.
Ikunochan

My mother-in-law is already going out of her mind about this, here! She came all the way up from Okayama yesterday just to bring us masks, furikake and cans of sanma just in case the flu hits! My guess is that she might also have brought sandbags had they been light enough.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Theanphibian theanphibian

I think it’s good that they’re communicating the limits to the effectiveness of the masks, but that’s about all I agree with from this article.

There is no scientific basis that they work and it is false reassurance

False reassurance? I beg to differ. If everyone is wearing masks around, that makes the situation feel much more real in the event that there is a significant risk of a pandemic. The interruption in our every day lives by having everyone around us wear a mask would scare most into washing their hands more often and reducing contact.

And plus, Japan already has huge numbers of masks stored in cupboards everywhere. If we’re talking about a developed nation, then the cost of a few masks a day should be well worth reducing the chance of life threatening disease.

LB

“If we’re talking about a developed nation…”

Unfortunately Dr. Leonard was talking about Britain, so we apparently are not be talking about a developed nation.

I still can’t believe a doctor sitting on a nation’s Health Protection Agency could come up with this. I mean, she may have a point about the masks needing to be changed after a couple of hours, and there is a great deal to be said for simply washing your hands before touching your mouth, nose or eyes, but I wonder if she noticed that basically everywhere in the world, when medical professionals are dealing with someone carrying an infectious disease, one of the first things they do is put on a mask. I don’t think they are doing it to stop the patient from being exposed to the healthy air the medical staff is exhaling… but then, I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.

But a wise man once said “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” – surely it is better to pay for comparatively cheap masks to lower the chances of people catching the new flu in the first place then paying more for Tamiflu and the like that can only be given after the individual is sick. At least until they are able to come up with an effective vaccine for this thing.

lovely

well, dr. sanjay gupta says they offer protection and i do believe him. saw him wearing one on a CNN program. they are uncomfortable to wear but when on a long flight or in a packed train with people who refuse to stay home when ill, i believe they protect.
richard goth

This doctor obviously doesn’t read current research
see:
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/2/233.htm
“Face Mask Use and Control of Respiratory Virus Transmission in Households”
C. Raina MacIntyre, Simon Cauchemez, Dominic E. Dwyer, Holly Seale, Pamela Cheung, Gary Browne, Michael Fasher, James Wood, Zhanhai Gao, Robert Booy, and Neil Ferguson
“We concluded that household use of masks is associated with low adherence and is ineffective in controlling seasonal ILI. If adherence were greater, mask use might reduce transmission during a severe influenza pandemic.”

Mark

Perhaps the doctor has read current research and has seen the word ‘might’ in that last statement? Hardly conclusive.

Marky

Yes, but here is current page on swine flu from the cdc:

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/masks.htm

Not to sound alarmist but on C4 TV news tonight I heard the UK’s Chief Medical Officer say that the H1N1 virus is small enough to pass through the filter material of face masks generally available to the public. Indeed, face masks are being sold claiming to filter out the virus but these claims are dubious. Face masks collecting and harboring the virus therefore put the wearer at risk of inhaling it or exhaling it onto others. Apparently, only respirators worn by health professionals are a reliable method of filtering out the virus.

yoga boy

One basic thing that needs to be done is Japanese people MUST learn to cover their damned mouths when they sneeze/cough/yawn in public (especially on the trains). In addition to this they must stopping picking their noses as that is a direct transfer of what they have touched to their nasal tissue.

It is really unbelievable how unhygienic the average Japanese person (salary men especially) are. The stuff I see on the train on a daily basis disgusts me to no end.
yoga boy

One other thing I have often wondered about ‘kaze masks’, being that I assume they are mostly made in China, is what is the quality of the material they are using to make these masks? Seeing as people have them strapped to their faces and are deeply inhaling particulates of the mask it should be of great concern as to what they are constructed with and how much dust particulate from the factory is on them when you pull them out of the box/bag.

Asuka

Paranoid much? You have nose hairs and mucous for a reason. Make your own mask if you’re so worried about whatever cancer-inducing particles would be on the factory-made ones.

sam

radio Erewan:

question: can a gasmask save me from biological weapon?
answer: yes, but only if you are on the moon.

Can masks save us from the swine flu?

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