spread. Are simple face-masks better than nothing? Likely so. So too is washing your hands. And for influenza specifically, getting vaccinated. But like the 15 million US residents who have been infected with influenza this year, including 8200 who have DIED, only about 45% get vaccinated for flu, (and even among health care workers, only 30% have been shown to routinely wash hands behind patients). So promoting hysteria over this virus, when Americans won't even take basic precautions against the most serious and threatening virus circulating currently is hardly the most responsible protection message.
While providing SOME protection, only N95 masks adequately protect against truly aerosolized viruses as opposed to those spread only by droplets:
A US-Chinese team of researchers created a simulated examination room with mechanized mannequins spaced 6 feet apart to represent coughing and breathing humans. They found that flu viruses floated between the two and were "inhaled" by the breathing mannequin, but that an N95 respirator sealed to the mannequin's face stopped 99.8% of them.
A poorly fitted respirator or a loose-fitting surgical mask, by contrast, blocked only about two thirds of the virus particles.
The researchers say their findings suggest that "anyone present in a room with a patient who has influenza might be at risk of exposure" and that properly fitted N95 respirators provide maximal protection. Their report is an early online publication in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Current guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that flu viruses spread primarily via virus-laden large droplets from coughs and sneezes, but that these generally travel in the air only about 3 feet.
As noted in an editorial accompanying the new study, the role of smaller aerosol particles that travel farther is uncertain and controversial, which has engendered confusion about the best infection control measures for healthcare workers.
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