this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
526 points (97.1% liked)

News

23311 readers
4995 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

In an interview for 60 Minutes, CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook posed that question to Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech University professor specializing in aerosol science.

"They are very helpful in reducing the chances that the person will get COVID because it's reducing the amount of virus that you would inhale from the air around you," Marr said about masks.

No mask is 100% effective. An N95, for example, is named as such because it is at least 95 percent efficient at blocking airborne particles when used properly. But even if a mask has an 80% efficiency, Marr said, it still offers meaningful protection.

"That greatly reduces the chance that I'm going to become infected," Marr said.

Marr said research shows that high-quality masks can block particles that are the same size as those carrying the coronavirus. Masks work, Marr explained, as a filter, not as a sieve. Virus particles must weave around the layers of fibers, and as they do so, they may crash into those fibers and become trapped.

Marr likened it to running through a forest of trees. Walk slowly, and the surrounding is easy to navigate. But being forced through a forest at a high speed increases the likelihood of running into a tree.

"Masks, even cloth masks, do something," she said.

Not that I expect most people to believe it at this point...

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 79 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's something to be said for masks that aren't 100% effective that isn't often said: letting in a little virus when out in public, but not enough viral load to cause an infection, very likely has a positive effect on your immunity to the virus.

[–] MechanicalJester@lemm.ee 32 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Most people think it is an all or nothing thing, including some doctors.

My immune system is apparently very good against noroviruses or whatever was giving my family the "all exits no waiting" treatment. A doctor argued that I must not have come in contact with the virus since I had no symptoms aside from feeling icky for a couple of hours. I was bothered that they had such a bad grasp on how viral infections work and I don't consider myself an expert by any stretch. Even after I told them I had been having to clean up my toddler and infant messes, do diapers, bathe them etc. I had come in contact with saliva vomit poo pee breath etc- of course I came in contact with it.

I had the virus, I just didn't have the disease/nasty symptoms. Maybe I had built immunity, maybe I had been able to build immunity quickly, maybe insufficient viral critical mass for rapid onset- who knows?

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I'm the same way, I always get about 10% as sick as the rest of my family when something is going around. I just assume my immune system is well trained. But I am also always cautious when new stuff is around, as an immune system can't be trained to stuff it hasn't seen yet. But I don't go for a zero tolerance approach. I go for a minimize exposure approach. Avoid contact with mucous membranes and other external weak points, and keep distance. But don't completely avoid everything. Still do stuff, just more carefully.

[–] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

“all exits no waiting”

I'm stealing this.

Norovirus is fucking EVIL. The worst part is your body doesn't maintain immunity indefinitely. Which is why people will often complain they get it seasonally.

When I've had it I like to say "my organs have been liquified and my skin suit is blasting the soup out of both ends".

Nothing worse than jetting hot shit out of your ass then puking into the bath at your side - repeatadly.

Then when you're 'empty' you curl into a ball on the bathroom floor.

[–] MechanicalJester@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

That's awful. My weird immune system has its own issues, but not noroviruses thus far.

I have had your experience caused by food poisoning and it ended putting me in the ER so you have my sincere sympathy.