Effectiveness of Face Masks in Blocking the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a Preliminary Evaluation of Masks Used by SARS-CoV-2-Infected Individuals

Abstract

In 2019, a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is trans-mitted via airborne route, caused a new pandemic namely, 'coronavirus disease 2019' (COVID-19). Although it is still debated whether the use of masks can prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, no study has evaluated the virus-blocking efficacy of masks used by patients. We aimed to evaluate this efficacy of masks used by SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. Data, masks used, and nasopharyngeal swab samples were obtained from these patients. Forty-five paired samples of nasopharyngeal swabs and masks were obtained and processed; the majority of masks were woven. Viral RNAs were amplified using quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and detected only on the inner parts of masks. Median cycle threshold (CT) values of swabs and masks were 28.41 and 37.95, respectively. Statistically, there was a difference of ap-proximately 10 CT values between swabs and masks and no significant difference in CT values among different types of masks. There were statistically significant differences in CT values be-tween men and women and symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Our findings suggest the blocking of the transmission of the virus by different types of masks and reinforce the use of masks by both infected and non-infected individuals.

Perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of science journalists: global perspectives

“…Journalism plays a crucial role in providing reliable information about a disease [Chen and Stoecker, 2020;Goldstein, MacDonald and Guirguis, 2015;Vai et al, 2020], its forms of transmission and prevention, and thus contributes to the public adoption of measures that, in the case of the current pandemic, were the only way to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 for nearly a year [Guttman and Lev, 2020;Mello et al, 2021]. These measures obviously also needed to be followed by journalists themselves, who live with the risk of contracting COVID-19 if they cannot work from home [Hoak, 2021].…”

Perspectiva dos acadêmicos após a flexibilização do uso obrigatório de máscara

“…Nesse sentido, é considerado que a utilização da proteção facial ainda é crucial no combate à disseminação da Covid-19 e de doenças respiratórias em geral e é uma medida que não deve ser abandonada de forma permanente, pelo contrário, deve sempre ser incentivada, principalmente para os indivíduos que estiverem contaminados ou demonstrarem sintomas da enfermidade (Mello et al, 2021).…”