‘Double-Masking’ It? Proper Fit Is Crucial, Study Finds

TUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (HealthDay News)

Donning two cosy, properly-fitted facial area masks can noticeably minimize your threat of coronavirus infection, scientists say.

But a excellent fit is vital: The new research found that two ill-fitting fabric masks do not give as much protection as one cosy-fitting surgical mask.

“We have found that wearing two loosely fitted masks will not give you the filtration profit that one, cosy-fitting treatment mask will,” said direct author Emily Sickbert-Bennett. She’s an associate professor of infectious ailments at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The new findings comply with a recent update from the U.S. Centers for Ailment Control and Avoidance, which endorses double-masking.

In a series of lab assessments, the UNC group assessed the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE) of a vary of masks.

They found that the filtration efficiency differs from person to person, owing to each individual’s facial area form and mask fit.

Without the need of altering the fit, a surgical mask (also acknowledged as a treatment mask) is concerning 40% and 60% productive at holding COVID19-sized particles out, although a fabric mask is about 40% productive, the research found.

A fabric mask positioned over a surgical mask enhanced the success by about 20%. Security was even far better when the layering was finished with a cosy-fitting, sleeve-type mask, these as a gaiter.

Layering fabric masks over surgical masks eradicates gaps and holds the surgical mask closer to the facial area, persistently covering the nose and mouth, scientists found.

When a surgical mask is worn over a fabric mask, FFE enhanced by sixteen%. The findings had been posted April sixteen in the journal JAMA Interior Medicine.

“With the recent data supporting how productive mask-wearing is at preventing the unfold of COVID-19, the greatest sort of double-masking is when you and the person you are interacting with are each the right way wearing a quite cosy-fitting mask,” Sickbert-Bennett said in a university information launch.

Extra details

The U.S. Centers for Ailment Control and Avoidance has far more on wearing masks.

Resource: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, information launch, April sixteen, 2021

Robert Preidt

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