Read on Twitter
It's gonna drive me nuts if ignorant people keep saying "wear masks", so I'll pin this thread explaining why it's wrong once I'm done. Some don't understand how Indirect Transmission of infectious diseases work or to what lengths one would have to go to be totally "risk free".
First off. What is "Indirect Transmission"?
https://healthengine.com.au/info/medical-glossary/indirect-contact-transmission
A mask provides a concentrated surface area for disease to latch upon when one breathes regardless of whether it is COVID-19 or the common cold.
https://healthengine.com.au/info/medical-glossary/indirect-contact-transmission
A mask provides a concentrated surface area for disease to latch upon when one breathes regardless of whether it is COVID-19 or the common cold.
So what does that mean? It means that contagions from exhalation caught in the mask remain there unless disturbed and while that is a net positive for certain scenarios, it is ill-advisable for extended periods. Not only do contagions build up in it, it limits normal respiration.
Respiration is an important function aside from the obvious of you being able to breathe, people need to be able to clear the lungs of infection or obstruction. Those with respiratory illness like asthma or COPD are burdened by both a lack of oxygen and Co2 retention with masks.
By now you probably think, "Okay, big deal. I can just lift my mask to get air when I need to!" and therein lies the issue. Every time you lift or touch your mask those contagions are now upon your hands and anything you touch afterwards is also contaminated.
This is where "Indirect Transmission" comes in. When one is at a store, they are NOT sterilizing everything they touch, be it a bag of chips or that new shirt they saw on the rack. They are constantly adjusting or lifting their masks for air and all the while contaminating areas.
This is why masks are made disposable in the first place and the average person doesn't have hundreds or more of masks at their disposal to replace often in the interest of cleanliness. Masks are meant to be a temporary means limiting intake/outtake of foreign substances.
People touch their faces A LOT even without a mask aggravating their skin or limiting their normal breathing. Here's one of MANY studies on just how often (without masks mind you): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25637115/
Okay, so you know what "Indirect Transmission" is and you now understand its importance if you didn't already, so what now? The short of it, is NOTHING because you simply CANNOT completely mitigate viral spread outside of a hospital's clean rooms. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. Period.
Well darn, you can't just wear CBRN gear 24/7/365, so what to do? If you're not a complete germaphobe at this point, the only answer is to do your best and wash your hands as often as life permits. Medical professionals ARE available to help you if/when you get sick, so relax.
Those medical professionals also need those masks for their jobs to help you when you need them and they have facilities on hand to mitigate viral spread, not to mention the nice scheduled shipments of masks/gloves to swap often. All of these things are indisputable facts.
In conclusion, masks are fairly pointless in a pandemic outside of a hospital and should only be worn in any instance where truly necessary, temporarily. So next time anyone tells you to you "have to wear a mask" remind them that you're a free citizen, living in a free country.
I'm not a doctor, virologist or epidemiologist, I attended Naval Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes where I gained an understanding of these things and expanded my knowledge through many studies on the subject matter later in life. Any "mandate" of masks is unconstitutional.
These two ARE accredited doctors and this is their informed opinion. Additional studies by each respectively, can be web searched.
- Lisa M Brosseau, ScD
- Margaret Sietsema, PhD https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
- Lisa M Brosseau, ScD
- Margaret Sietsema, PhD https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
Another, Kelly Victory MD with additional information.
"Problems ranged from researchers entering and exiting the coronavirus laboratories without changing their coats, to test ingredients being assembled in the same room where researchers were working on positive coronavirus samples, officials said." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/cdc-coronavirus-lab-contamination-testing.html
Precisely the point I've been trying to get across about contaminant spread and sanitation protocols in-general for weeks, in the public sphere one cannot sanitize enough even being OCD about it due to public areas being an uncontrolled setting. Cross-contamination is a big deal.
This is also presents a HUGE NatSec risk should any of it be deliberate, if even one (1) CDC lab or affiliated lab that is creating our tests, employs a single foreign actor in the name of "joint-ventures" and in a critical role, it is a recipe for subversion within the country.
