Mask-wearing helps to reduce the spread of COVID-19; social media posts misinterpreted Annals of Internal Medicine study on N95 respirators - Health Feedback

1 year ago 58

CLAIM

“‘Gold Standard’ Scientific Trial Deals Massive Blow to N95 and Surgical Masks arsenic Way to ‘Stop Covid’”

DETAILS

Misrepresents source: Despite societal media posts claiming that the survey by Loeb et al. showed masks don’t work, the survey didn’t find whether mask-wearing efficaciously reduced the dispersed of COVID-19. Instead, it compared the effectiveness of aesculapian masks with that of N95 respirators astatine preventing radical from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. The authors concluded that aesculapian masks were noninferior compared to N95 respirators, not that mask-wearing is ineffective astatine reducing the dispersed of COVID-19.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Although mask-wearing doesn’t forestall radical from catching COVID-19 with 100% effectiveness, aggregate peer-reviewed studies person shown that mask-wearing tin and does meaningfully trim the hazard of transmitting the virus. Furthermore, mask-wearing isn’t associated with superior semipermanent wellness problems, whereas COVID-19 is. Consequently, mask-wearing is simply a low-risk involution that offers important nationalist wellness benefits, peculiarly during a pandemic caused by a respiratory virus.

FULL CLAIM: ‘A Randomized Control Trial (RCT), the golden modular for technological grounds successful the aesculapian community, was released connected Tuesday successful the Annals of Internal Medicine. The results from the RCT survey woody a large stroke to advocates of N95 and surgical masks arsenic effectual means to “stop Covid.”’; a Danish survey “showed that determination was nary statistically important quality successful Covid hazard betwixt wearing a disguise and not wearing a mask”

REVIEW

A study successful the peer-reviewed diary Annals of Internal Medicine, published astatine the extremity of November 2022, generated renewed treatment implicit the effectiveness of mask-wearing against COVID-19^[1]. According to the societal media analytics instrumentality Buzzsumo, the survey received much than 4,500 idiosyncratic engagements connected Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.

The survey examined 1,009 healthcare workers from 29 healthcare facilities successful Canada, Israel, Pakistan, and Egypt betwixt May 2020 and March 2022. Participants were randomized to 2 groups: aesculapian masks (also called surgical masks) oregon N95 respirators, with the purpose of determining which disguise performed amended astatine preventing radical from catching COVID-19. Between the two, N95 respirators are considered to supply much protection, fixed that they acceptable much intimately to the face compared to aesculapian masks.

The researchers reported that PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred successful astir 10% of participants successful the aesculapian disguise group, which was rather akin to the cases successful the N95 respirator radical (about 9%). This led the researchers to reason that aesculapian masks were noninferior to N95 respirators.

However, galore societal media users interpreted the survey to mean that mask-wearing is ineffective astatine reducing the dispersed of COVID-19, similar this tweet by creation trader Eli Klein that proclaimed “Masks hardly work, if astatine all”. One article published by the website Becker News, which was besides shared connected societal media, ran successful the aforesaid vein, claiming that “‘Gold Standard’ Scientific Trial Deals Massive Blow to N95 and Surgical Masks arsenic Way to ‘Stop Covid’”. That nonfiction received much than 12,000 interactions connected Twitter, acknowledgment to Kyle Becker’s tweet.

However, Mark Loeb, the archetypal writer of the survey and seat of infectious diseases astatine McMaster University, told Health Feedback that specified an mentation was inaccurate.

While the survey did study that N95 respirators didn’t importantly outperform aesculapian masks successful presumption of preventing COVID-19 cases, the survey didn’t see a radical that didn’t deterioration masks. As such, “comments astir the implicit effect of the disguise oregon N95 respirator to support against COVID-19 cannot beryllium made connected the ground of our trial,” Loeb cautioned.

He explained the results thus: “There was a 1.19% summation successful the hazard of COVID-19 corruption successful participants that were assigned to aesculapian masks compared to N95 respirators. This is known arsenic the constituent estimation and is the effect that is closest to the existent effect. The assurance intervals astir this, that is, what the imaginable results could beryllium if the proceedings was repeated galore times, scope from -2.5% to 4.9%. This means that the hazard of a COVID-19 corruption successful those utilizing the aesculapian masks could person ranged from anyplace from 2.5% simplification successful hazard to a 4.9% summation successful risk”.

In the study, the authors acknowledged respective limitations. For example, the survey participants could person been infected by SARS-CoV-2 extracurricular of the healthcare setting, erstwhile they weren’t wearing masks. Given that an involution tin lone enactment erstwhile it’s being applied, the fig of COVID-19 cases successful some groups whitethorn not needfully beryllium related to the effectiveness of the benignant of look masks.

Other experts, who weren’t progressive successful the study, besides discussed a fewer different caveats in an article by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy astatine the University of Minnesota. One of these is that healthcare workers could usage N95 respirators if they believed astatine immoderate clip that this was necessary, adjacent if they had been randomized to the aesculapian disguise group. Such a substance of aggregate interventions makes it hard to property the observed effect to a circumstantial intervention.

The Becker News nonfiction besides cited “a celebrated Danish study” that allegedly recovered “no statistically important quality successful Covid hazard betwixt wearing a disguise and not wearing a mask”. However, this isn’t what the survey was designed to determine, arsenic a erstwhile Health Feedback reappraisal reported. Instead, the Danish survey was designed to find whether recommending that radical deterioration look masks reduces their hazard of COVID-19 corruption by 50%^[2]. Indeed, an editorial by the Annals of Internal Medicine, which published the study, besides clarified this point. In addition, the authors stated that their findings were “inconclusive”.

Furthermore, the Danish survey lone evaluated the quality of look masks to support the wearer. Hence, the survey does not code whether wearing look masks are effectual astatine reducing the dispersed of COVID-19 from an infected to uninfected idiosyncratic (source control). This is the ground of the proposal for adjacent steadfast radical to deterioration masks, since infected radical don’t ever amusement symptoms.

The archetypal writer of the Danish study, Henning Bundgaard, told Forbes that “Even a tiny grade of extortion is worthy utilizing the look masks”.

Health Feedback attempted to scope retired to Becker for remark via the email code provided connected the Becker News website, but were unsuccessful.

Findings from multiple peer-reviewed studies enactment assemblage mask-wearing arsenic a utile measurement to trim the dispersed of COVID-19. Loeb cited a survey performed successful Bangladesh, which helium considered to supply “among the champion estimates for implicit effect for surgical masks successful the community”^[3]. The survey reported that the radical receiving aggregate mask-promoting interventions, including the organisation of escaped masks, had a simplification of astir 10% successful the fig of radical who became infected, erstwhile compared to the power radical that received nary interventions.

A survey successful Johnson County, Iowa, reported that erstwhile an uninfected idiosyncratic and infected idiosyncratic some wore a look mask, the secondary onslaught rate—the complaint astatine which the infected idiosyncratic passes connected the corruption to the initially uninfected person—was halved from from 25.6% to 12.5%^[4]. A akin payment was besides reported successful a survey of Beijing households, which recovered a 79% effectiveness successful reducing transmission betwixt an infected idiosyncratic and household members surviving successful the aforesaid household, erstwhile some parties wore masks^[5].

In an nonfiction for JAMA Network, scientists from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention explained that the payment of mask-wearing to individuals grows with the fig of radical that take to deterioration masks:

“The wide assemblage payment of wearing masks derives from their combined quality to bounds some exhalation and inhalation of infectious virus. Similar to the rule of herd immunity for vaccination, the greater the grade to which the intervention—mask wearing successful this case—is adopted by the community, the larger the payment to each idiosyncratic member.”

In summary, the survey by Loeb et al. was designed to comparison the effectiveness of aesculapian masks with that of N95 respirators to find which 1 was amended astatine protecting radical from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. It didn’t comparison mask-wearing groups with a non-mask-wearing group, truthful the survey doesn’t supply grounds that mask-wearing doesn’t enactment to trim the dispersed of COVID-19, contrary to fashionable interpretations offered by societal media users. While mask-wearing cannot forestall COVID-19 with 100% effectiveness, studies amusement that it tin and does meaningfully trim the hazard of microorganism transmission.