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PHDram
Well again...i acknowledged what the results said. Read the lit review...
Researchers have been reviewing evidence from previous randomized controlled trials for other respiratory illnesses examining mask use and types among individuals at higher risk of contracting infections (such as health care workers or individuals in infected households). Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of such studies have provided suggestive, although generally weak, evidence.6 The estimates from the meta-analyses based on the randomized controlled trials suggest declines in transmission risk of influenza or influenza-like illnesses to mask wearers, although estimates are mostly statistically insignificant possibly due to small sample sizes or design limitations especially related to assessing compliance.7–9 There is also a relationship between increased adherence to mask use specifically and effectiveness of reducing transmission to mask wearers; in one randomized study of influenza transmission in infected households in Australia, transmission risk for mask wearers was lower with greater adherence.10 Further, the evidence is mixed from randomized studies on types of masks and risk of influenza-like illnesses transmission to mask wearers; for example, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis comparing N95 respirators versus surgical masks found a statistically insignificant decline in influenza risk with the N95-respirators.11
That doesn;t address the issue. That's about whether masks protect you from GETTING a virus (plus this study does not mention THE virus, covid-19, whose transmission may vary from regular influenzas).
The issue with the public wearing masks is not whether they protect the one wearing the mask, but whether wearing a mask reduces the percentage of viruses breathed into the air by the mask-wearer.
It's the public protecting one another by everyone wearing masks and therefore reducing transmission.
You need specialized masks to protect yourself from getting the virus. That's not what this is about.
It's about the public at large reducing virus transmission. (Though no one says masks alone will do that, you need the other protocols too.) And yes over and over people conclude that if a large percentage of the population wears masks it reduces transmission.
We wear masks for others not ourselves.
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