I think the newest Cochrane medical study rated n95 as 18% effective and regular masks 5% effective against covid, btw. Better than nothing, yes, but worth it?

[–] JeffCraig@citizensgaming.com 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Other studies show that in health-care workers, n95 vs medical masks made almost no statistical difference.

However, the use of masks in the public is not necessarily to protect yourself. It's to keep you from spreading germs in a wide range if you cough. It's the same concept as herd immunity with vaccinations. We all help protect each other.

So with that in mind: wear a washable cloth mask.

[+] Chipthemonk@lemm.ee -14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That’s not what the science says. It seems logical, but the mask is supposed to protect the wearer from external shit. It seems logical that it would slow down the spread if an infected individual wears a mask, but the science is far from clear on this after a multi year long pandemic. If a mask makes you feel better, then wear it, but it’s not evident that it plays a big role when it comes to respiratory viruses.

https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses

There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect. The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That is about you catching a disease while wearing masks.

While masks are to prevent OTHERS from catching your diseases.

I swear, anti-vaxxers really don't understand how to READ.

[–] Chipthemonk@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Clearly you haven’t read the review I linked. I guess people struggle with reading the literature so they spew shit that, while logical, is simply false.

[–] Efwis@lemmy.zip -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i'm not an anti-vaxxer, ut I do refuse to have my DNA modified by a vaccine. Not only that the risks associated with the vaccines for covid are too high for my health. I've already had 2 heart attacks, I don't need a vaccine to increase the risk of another one.

during the pandemic, before the lockdowns were completely lifted, I wore my mask for the sake of others. Not all anti-vaxxers can be lumped into your last comment. Oh and btw, I've had covid twice, once before it was even listed as a pandemic, and it did not put me in the hospital, but it did make me feel worse than if I had the flu.

also, on another note, I thought the vaccine was supposed to HELP defeat Covid? Obviously that was a lie. Everytime a new variant comes around, all of a sudden you need another booster shot which has not been "programmed" to help with the new variant. At this point the covid vaccine is nothing more than a cash grab for big pharma.

[–] foo@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

Lol

[–] rab@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 year ago

Enjoy polluting the planet with plastic for no reason I guess

[–] Piers@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Yes. They are saying that the studies are rubbish and therefore they can't be used to prove anything.

[–] Piers@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

I think the newest Cochrane medical study rated n95 as 18% effective and regular masks 5% effective against covid, btw.

Lots of people seem to have picked up the idea that the recent Cochrane report states that the evidence shows masks not to be effective that but it is a misunderstanding (largely it just seems to claim that the various studies it found on the various topics they were looking at were mostly useless for drawing any sort of conclusion about the matter.)

Directly from the horse's mouth: https://www.cochrane.org/news/statement-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses-review

The text of the statement on the matter from Cochrane from the above link:

Statement on 'Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses' review logo

The Cochrane Review 'Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses' was published in January 2023 and has been widely misinterpreted.

Karla Soares-Weiser, Editor-in-Chief of the Cochrane Library, has responded on behalf of Cochrane:

"Many commentators have claimed that a recently-updated Cochrane Review shows that 'masks don't work', which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation.

It would be accurate to say that the review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses, and that the results were inconclusive. Given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask-wearing itself reduces people's risk of contracting or spreading respiratory viruses.

The review authors are clear on the limitations in the abstract: 'The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions.' Adherence in this context refers to the number of people who actually wore the provided masks when encouraged to do so as part of the intervention. For example, in the most heavily-weighted trial of interventions to promote community mask wearing, 42.3% of people in the intervention arm wore masks compared to 13.3% of those in the control arm.

The original Plain Language Summary for this review stated that 'We are uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses based on the studies we assessed.' This wording was open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize. While scientific evidence is never immune to misinterpretation, we take responsibility for not making the wording clearer from the outset. We are engaging with the review authors with the aim of updating the Plain Language Summary and abstract to make clear that the review looked at whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses."