Where does this news come from?
A new publication from the highly regarded and independent research institute Cochrane caused a stir in the media. An overview study would question the use of mouth masks as a measure against the spread of pathogenic viruses, such as corona, flu and RSV.
Cochrane regularly releases updates of large-scale research. This study is an update of an existing study on the impact of various measures on the spread of viruses (1).
- The update analyzed 11 new controlled studies, 6 of which were conducted during the coronavirus pandemic.
- This brings the total number of included studies to 78.
- 12 studies compared wearing a mouth mask with not wearing a mouth mask on the spread of flu and coronaviruses.
- They found little to no difference in infections between the group with and the group without a mask.
- The more sophisticated P95/P2 masks also barely made any difference compared to the regular surgical masks.
- The study also examined the impact of hand hygiene. Washing your hands regularly does have an effect:
- Respiratory infections were 14% less common in the group of participants who regularly washed their hands compared to the group who did not.
- In absolute figures, this meant a reduction from 380 respiratory infections per 1,000 persons to 327 per 1,000.
There is insufficient research to be able to make statements about the influence of face shields, wearing gloves or screening for fever at entrances.
Bron
How should you interpret this news?
This Cochrane study establishes a clear impact of hand hygiene on the spread of respiratory infections via viruses, but no clear effect of face masks. According to the authors, this is mainly due to the quality of the included studies on face masks that they analyzed for this overview. It is very difficult to distinguish the separate impact of mouth masks in the totality of measuresthey conclude.
To prevent the spread of respiratory infections, a set of different measures is important:
- wash your hands regularly
- sneezing and coughing into your elbow
- wear a mouth mask
- avoid contact with sick people
- isolate yourself when you are sick
Conclusion
A new, solid overview study cannot demonstrate that a mouth mask as a separate measure protects you against viral respiratory infections such as the flu or corona. That’s because mouth masks should always be part of a package of preventive measures, of which washing your hands regularly is probably the most important. The researchers do note an effect: good hand hygiene reduces the risk of a respiratory infection by 14%.
