+12 more
posted on Oct, 5 2020 @ 03:14 AM
Just replying here to make sure I can find this thread again, then I'm off to sleep (I hope). In the interim, though, I would like to add a couple of
points... nip them in the bud, so to speak.
Firstly, the narrative that requires masks seems to focus around the idea that surgeons use masks while operating. That's an apples to cranberries
comparison. A surgeon does use a face mask (along with other PPE) when operating, and it is there to protect the patient, not the surgeon. That much
is accurate. However, the patient requires extensive protection from infection because the patient's innards are exposed to the air in the operating
room. There is no immune response from an infection that is allowed to set up inside a person's body. Immunity is concentrated in the respiratory
tract, ear canal, and digestive tract... in other words, areas which are subject to infection. In the heart? Not so much. So infection control is
absolutely necessary.
So necessary in fact, that a mask is only a small part of the PPE used. Everyone in the operating room wears a mask, a hair covering, a gown, and
sterilized latex gloves. Surgeons are trained to not touch their face during surgery. Even the patient is shaved and painted down with Betadine to
kill infection on the skin. All utensils are sterilized. In short, every avenue that infection can reasonably use to enter the environment is
considered, not just face masks.
All medical personnel also are trained on the proper use of a face mask. They must be fitted to the wearer to minimize air escaping from any
imperfections in the fit. They are also specially designed and tested to filter out certain sized particles. A mask will not filter particles smaller
than its weave, and cloth masks, which make up the majority of masks being worn in public, have a very wide weave.
Now, some will claim that the mask is not to filter actual virus particles, but rather to capture water droplets that carry the virus. That they will
do, but all virus particles emitted from a person's respiratory tract are not in water droplets. In an infected person, virus particles are scattered
across the respiratory passages. The simple process of breathing in and out will cause a virus particle to potentially be dislodged from the
respiratory tract and carried out of the body. A mask, especially a cloth mask, will not filter these particles. If a person coughs or sneezes, the
majority of virus particles are then carried on the surface of liquid droplets which a mask can capture, but it requires a much more forceful exhale
to dislodge a liquid droplet than to dislodge individual virus particles. Therefore, a person speaking or simply breathing through a mask is of no
real protection to anyone around them; a person coughing into a mask does help stop the expulsion of virus particles.
Secondly, the masks are likely increasing viral spread. The very purpose of a cough or sneeze is to remove virus particles from the body. If a virus
is floating around outside the body, it is not infecting the body. A cough clears some viral particles from the lower respiratory tract, while a
sneeze mainly clears the upper respiratory tract.
But, one might say, the particles are still outside the body; they are just in the face mask instead of someone else's lungs. That may be true, but
they are also still viable living on water droplets. Every breath one takes after a cough or sneeze into a face mask pulls those same virus particles
back into the body, thereby increasing one's viral load and increasing the chance that the symptoms will be more severe. Since the breath is already
pretty much saturated air, there is less chance of the droplets evaporating, drying out the virus, and killing it wherever it lands.
Has anyone noticed how people with masks on tend to yank them down quickly as soon as they can? Yes, they do, because masks are uncomfortable. Unlike
a surgeon who might wear a mask for a few hours a couple times a day while operating, people are trying to wear masks all day long. So whenever they
get a chance to let it down, they do. And that is when all that concentrated viral material is exposed to the air. Suddenly every virus particle in
every cough, throat clearing, sneeze, or hard breath is released into the atmosphere. It does not follow the person releasing it; it floats along in
the air in a trail behind them that could be yards long. Anyone walking into that trail is exposed to not just a normal viral load from contact, but
to a concentrated load. If the person has been wearing a mask for an hour, the viral load cold be identical to standing in front of them maskless for
40 minutes! And that's without ever coming within six feet of them.
Now consider that most masks in public are not fitted and leak quite profusely around the edges. That kills the whole idea of wearing a mask, as viral
particles will simply float out around the mask instead of being filtered, including viral particles already on the inner mask surface.
So we have, thanks to the masks, people unable to rid their body of the viral load, concentrated areas of virus particles wherever an infected person
has walked, and all these virus particles able to exist for longer times due to the saturation of the air. Every mask you see is a personal petri
dish.
Include the number of times someone will typically tug at that mask due to the discomfort and you have a veritable soup of infection anywhere masks
are used. A better solution is to skip the mask and train oneself to cough in their hand or elbow, then to wash their hand with soap and water.
I know hand sanitizers are fun and vogue and all, but they don't do nearly as much good as simple soap and water. Take a little care when approached
if you're felling less than well. It used to be commonplace to walk up to someone and have them hold up one hand and say, "Stay back a little; I've
got a bug." These methods work and have worked for generations... and they won't make you sicker.
Finally, if one is elderly or otherwise high-risk, there is no problem with asking others to wear a mask around them. That becomes a reasonable
precaution, since the Kung Flu can be deadly. Someone who is at very high risk also should not be out on the town. Most will already have caretakers
to help them, so do the shopping for them. There are also grocery delivery services in most larger towns and even here one can get curbside pickup.
Use these services to prevent unduly exposing yourself if you are at high risk.
We'll likely have a vaccine soon and you can get back to a social life... in the meantime, the rest of us need to move on and get things done. Without
a face mask.
Great thread OP!
TheRedneck