should we go back to using masks? – Corriere.it

Influence at the highest for years, hideoutsd still circulating and with new variants And hospitals on alert. From many quarters, in view of the winter and the greater circulation of airborne viruses, the return to the use of masks is invoked which, as we have experienced, reduce transmission between people with a simple and economical gesture.

institutional recommendations

An appeal in this sense comes from the family doctors of Lombardy. «We have very full studies: not only the flu, but also Covid. The situation has already exploded, worse than in recent years and pre-Covid. The number of patients is significantly higher. At the moment, the group of young adults seems to be more affected, the elderly a little less”, reports Paola Pedrini, general secretary of Fimmg (Italian Federation of general practitioners) Lombardy, who invites citizens to “recover the use of the mask ».
“We reiterate the need to continue to adopt the individual and collective behavioral measures envisaged and/or recommended, such as the use of the mask”, specify the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) and the Ministry of Health on the sidelines of the weekly report on Covid. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) have also issued a joint note in recent days regarding the importance of individual protection measures, such as masks in closed and crowded places.

I think

«Masks are not prohibited – recalls the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco -. We need attention and common sense» and he continues on the flu to the microphones of RadioUno: «It will be a tough season, as always there will be deaths, usually between 5 thousand and 15 thousand. The peak is expected at Christmas, with around 250,000 cases per day». Focus more on vaccines Matteo Bassetti: «I say absolutely not (on the return of the masks, ed). These microorganisms must circulate and have always circulated, we must protect ourselves but how? For example, we have greatly lost coverage for pneumococcus, vaccination against pneumonia, but also those for the flu», specifies the director of infectious diseases at the Policlinico San Martino hospital in Genoa. “Today the best thing to do, given the high circulation of Sars-CoV-2, is to recommend the protective measures we know, therefore also the mask”, observes Massimo Andreoni, head of Infectious Diseases at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome and director scientist of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases. Claudio Cricelli, president of the Italian Society of General Medicine and Primary Care (Simg), with regard to the large increase in cases of flu, declares: «The elderly are highly vaccinated and have learned to protect themselves, so they get less sick. If you want to protect yourself, the suggestion is to use a mask in very busy places », she concludes.

French minister

The validity of the use of masks to reduce transmission is now known, viruses that are transmitted via droplets of saliva, such as Covid and flu, are almost completely blocked by FFP2 filters (especially in emission by sick subjects). Wearing a mask is a device that was perhaps little known before Covid, but has now become a habit that can be easily “brushed off”, available to those who choose to run less risk of getting infected.
The obligation to wear masks has been dropped in Italy (except for hospitals and health facilities), but whoever wants can protect others and continue to protect themselves. The topic of yes or no masks is also debated across the Alps: the French Minister of Health, Francois Braun, has not ruled out a return to the obligation due to a leap in Covid-19 cases, but he assured that he would prefer to avoid it and simultaneously launched an appeal to get vaccinated.
The problem, in fact, is not so much the spread of infectious diseases, but the consequent overlapping of pathologies and the impact on fragile people, with the interest of hospitals and intensive care units.
For now, the situation in Italy is under control, even if in some Regions there are warning signs from the Emergency Departments.

Peak at Christmas

Meanwhile, the flu peak is expected at Christmas with significant numbers: second the latest Influnet report (dated 2 December) the incidence is equal to 12.9 cases per thousand assisted (9.5 in the previous week). The incidence is increasing in all age groups, but the pediatric age groups are most affected (children under the age of 5, in which the incidence is equal to 40.8 cases per thousand assisted). «If the cases increase, perhaps I would keep the mask on public transport and in crowded places, especially for the elderly and frail. Without reintroducing the obligation, but recommending it», says Massimo Ciccozzi, head of the Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology Unit of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Campus Bio-Medico in Rome.

Stable but underestimated Covid

The cases of Covid are stable, but would be largely underestimated: according to the independent monitoring of the GIMBE Foundation, in the week 25 November-1 December 2022, the currently positive cases increased +14,712 (+3%), but the note reads: «The number of new weekly Covid cases is no longer a reliable indicator of viral circulation, underestimated by at least 50% both for the widespread use of do-it-yourself swabs and for the lack of testing of asymptomatic people ». The 7-day moving average of the positivity rate remains stable at 13.5% for molecular swabs and decreases from 18.8% to 17.8% for rapid antigens.