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June 13th, 2009

Swine Flu Mask and Respirators – Effective?

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desease swine, influenza A, i'm not infected....Image by Dan Queiroz via Flickr

Are Swine Flu masks and respirators effective? Do they help stop the spread of swine flu? There is no scientific study to prove that. However, it does help to alleviate fear in a lot of people. Why? This is because they think that wearing one will help stop the virus (in this case the AH1N1 virus) from reaching them through their noses or mouths.

To help understand how masks and respirators might help us, we need to know the answer to this question – how big is the A(H1N1) virus and can it fit and go through the tiny holes of our masks and respirators? The logic is simple, if the virus can’t fit through the holes then it won’t be able to penetrate our body thru our nose or mouth. But then again as I said just now, this is not scientifically proven so don’t take my word for it.

Let us go back in time and examine the SARS scare for a minute. In 2003, there was a study that said the SARS virus, which is just 100 nanometers in size, can easily pass through surgical masks. Thus there’s every reason to believe that swine flu, at 80 to 120 nanometers, can, too.

However, just like a shield of a warrior can block multiple sword swings during a fight for his life so can masks and respirators. It might not be able to block viruses all the time but could block it many times.

We also need to know the difference between masks and respirators. Masks are loose-fitting that cover the nose and mouth. These include products labeled as surgical, dental, medical procedure, isolation, and laser masks. They help stop droplets from being spread by the person wearing them. They also keep splashes or sprays from reaching the mouth and nose of the person wearing the mask. They are not designed to protect you against breathing in very small particles. Sample of a mask is seen at the picture above.

On the other hand, respirators are designed to protect you from breathing in very small particles, which might contain viruses. These types of respirators fit tightly to the face so that most air is inhaled through the filter material. See below for sample respirator image:

N95 respirator

In other words, respirators can filter more than the normal face masks. Due to this, respirators are more expensive than face masks.

But it is interesting to note that some people are getting cool ideas with their masks:

It is up to you if you want to use masks or respirators to help prevent swine flu. As for my case, I’ll definitely think about this. Am I being socially responsible in doing so? Probably.

Good day and good health to you!

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Filed under: Knowledge, Photos, Reviews, Thoughts, Worth Reading by Phaw Lo

  • Anonymous

    It would be great if someone would start decorating respirators instead – then the masks would look cool AND be effective.

  • http://www.phawville.com/blog Paolo

    Yeah I know what you mean…:)

  • http://www.truthaboutflu.com/ Flu Maskq

    Love that people are getting creative. Nice pics.

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