Poll of the Day > New research suggests masks reduce severity of COVID-19

(+) Yeah! (+)

Facial Masking for Covid-19 Potential for Variolation as We Await a Vaccine

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913

tl:dr: Masks reduce the number of virus particles a person is exposed to and exposure to a smaller viral load may allow the body to mount a more effective immune response with lower severity and fewer if any symptoms.

Variolation was a method of inoculating against smallpox in the days before the vaccine. Material taken from a smallpox patient would be applied to a small scratch on the skin to intentionally cause an infection, which would be less severe than a naturally acquired infection. Similar practices have occurred in more recent times with chickenpox ("pox parties") and measles before the creation of their respective vaccines made them unnecessary.

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That's great and all, but can't wear a mask because muh freedumbs, and also facebook told me masks don't work so there's that.

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It seems science and Facebook mom's are chasing themselves ouroboros style. They already wanted to wear masks in the begging but everyone told them how stupid they were for scrounging up whatever they can during the peak of the shortage.

Despite this evidence I refuse to wear one because they are not 100% effective.

dedbus posted...

It seems science and Facebook mom's are chasing themselves ouroboros style. They already wanted to wear masks in the begging but everyone told them how stupid they were for scrounging up whatever they can during the peak of the shortage.

Welcome to the front lines of science. When you're dealing with something really novel like this, it's not uncommon for recommendations to do complete 180's as the best available information changes. In the early days, available evidence suggested masks were mostly just effective for preventing transmission from infected people, not protecting healthy people, so people hoarding them for their own protection was baseless and problematic because it meant there were fewer available for use in riskier environments. Since then, there's been more than enough concrete data to conclude that masks are effective enough for personal protection to warrant using, plus the number of cases paired with the potential for asymptomatic transmission means there's a non-trivial likelihood that seemingly healthy people are infectious, so the recommendation has changed.

This is throwing people off because they don't usually get to see science working like this. Most people view science as a source of answers, not as a process of asking questions. The fact that Covid is such a pressing situation that demands immediate action has pulled back that curtain, and people are surprised to see that the whole process consists of throwing a bunch of educated guesses at a wall to see what sticks. It's understandable that many would be more inclined to distrust the science that's currently going on than you reshape their entire understanding of the process.

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sodium-chloride posted...

Despite this evidence I refuse to wear one because they are not 100% effective.

funny how those that subscribe to that mentality have no problem with bullet proof vests which are also not 100% effective.

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Masks dont make you 100% immune so there is no reason to wear one

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adjl posted...

Welcome to the front lines of science. When you're dealing with something really novel like this, it's not uncommon for recommendations to do complete 180's as the best available information changes. In the early days, available evidence suggested masks were mostly just effective for preventing transmission from infected people, not protecting healthy people, so people hoarding them for their own protection was baseless and problematic because it meant there were fewer available for use in riskier environments. Since then, there's been more than enough concrete data to conclude that masks are effective enough for personal protection to warrant using, plus the number of cases paired with the potential for asymptomatic transmission means there's a non-trivial likelihood that seemingly healthy people are infectious, so the recommendation has changed.

This is throwing people off because they don't usually get to see science working like this. Most people view science as a source of answers, not as a process of asking questions. The fact that Covid is such a pressing situation that demands immediate action has pulled back that curtain, and people are surprised to see that the whole process consists of throwing a bunch of educated guesses at a wall to see what sticks. It's understandable that many would be more inclined to distrust the science that's currently going on than you reshape their entire understanding of the process.

Everyone understands this but I doubt scientist themselves are like you know let's not use any ppe whatsoever until we know what's up!