Mask Ineffectiveness
1 General Mask Ineffectiveness
400 Studies About Mask Ineffectiveness, Mask Mandates, Mask Harms, Lockdowns, and School Closures, courtesy of Paul Elias Alexander with Brownstone Institute
Bacterial Pneumonia from Wearing Masks Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic
"We did not find evidence that surgical-type face masks are effective in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza transmission, either when worn by infected persons (source control) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility"
Source: Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings—Personal Protective and Environmental Measures
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
"So far, most studies found little to no evidence for the effectiveness of face masks in the general population, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control."
Source: Swiss Policy Research
https://swprs.org/face-masks-evidence/#c-effectiveness-of-n95-ffp2-mask-mandates
"A May 2020 meta-study on pandemic influenza published by the US CDC found that face masks had no effect, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control."
Source: Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings—Personal Protective and Environmental Measures, May 2020
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
"The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use."
Source: Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers, March 2021
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
Masks “did not seem to be effective against laboratory-confirmed viral respiratory infections nor against clinical respiratory infection.”
Source: Facemask against viral respiratory infections among Hajj pilgrims: A challenging cluster-randomized trial
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0240287
"Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%."
Source: British Medical Journal, A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers, 2015
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
"No masks were worn in one operating theatre for 6 months. There was no increase in the incidence of wound infection."
Source: Royal College of Surgeons of England
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493952/pdf/annrcse01509-0009.pdf
2 Mask Ineffectiveness Against COVID-19
"while masking then-unvaccinated teachers and improving ventilation was associated with lower levels of virus transmission in schools - social distancing, classroom barriers, HEPA filters, and forcing students to wear masks did not result in a statistically significant benefit."
Source: Mask Use and Ventilation Improvements to Reduce COVID-19 Incidence in Elementary Schools, December 2020
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7021e1.htm?
"The evidence is not sufficiently strong to support widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against COVID-19."
Source: Facemasks and similar barriers to prevent respiratory illness such as COVID-19: A rapid systematic review, April 2020
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.01.20049528v1
"Mask mandates and use are not associated with slower state-level COVID-19 spread during COVID-19 growth surges."
Source: Mask mandate and use efficacy in state-level COVID-19 containment, May 2021
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.18.21257385v1.full-text
"both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface."
Source: Effectiveness of Surgical and Cotton Masks in Blocking SARS–CoV-2: A Controlled Comparison in 4 Patients
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
"After adjusting for other factors, ILI (RR=6.64, 95% CI 1.45 to 28.65) and laboratory-confirmed virus (RR=1.72, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.94) remained significantly higher in the cloth masks group compared with the medical masks group."
Source: Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/masking-lack-of-evidence-with-politics/
"Masks-for-all for COVID-19 not based on sound data"
Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
https://cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection."
Source: New England Journal of Medicine, Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era, May 2020
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
Oxford Professor: Official Data Shows Face Masks “Made No Meaningful Difference” to Infection Rates
No statistically significant difference in infection rates between the masked and unmasked group in any of the trials."
https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2021-12/regulation-how-effective-are-cloth-face-masks.pdf
https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1471489471413567489
"The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use. The data were compatible with lesser degrees of self-protection."
Study: Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers, March 2021
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
"In this review, we did not find evidence to support a protective effect of personal protective measures or environmental measures in reducing influenza transmission. Although these measures have mechanistic support based on our knowledge of how influenza is transmitted from person to person, randomized trials of hand hygiene and face masks have not demonstrated protection against laboratory-confirmed influenza, with 1 exception (18). We identified only 2 RCTs on environmental cleaning and no RCTs on cough etiquette."
Study: Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings—Personal Protective and Environmental Measures, May 2020
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
3 Mask Adverse Reactions
400 Studies About Mask Ineffectiveness, Mask Mandates, Mask Harms, Lockdowns, and School Closures, courtesy of Paul Elias Alexander with Brownstone Institute
"Dermatological and allergological diseases related to the extended use of the PPEs represent an emerging problem amidst the pandemic. In particular, there are increasing reports of skin damage, occupational dermatoses, Irritant Contact Dermatitis (ICD) and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) related to surgical facemasks and N95. We report the case of a superinfected ICD of the narinal region complicated in nasal vestibulitis, characterized by purulent secretions, narinal edema and nasal obstruction, with the aim of highlighting that even the incorrect use of protective against Covid-19 transmission can cause the onset of severe diseases."
2022 Jan 19: Facial masks vestibulitis: the risk of mismanagement in the COVID-19 pandemic
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35075074/
Parents sent masks to be tested by University of Florida, and 11 pathogens were found: "The resulting report found that five masks were contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and fungi, including three with dangerous pathogenic and pneumonia-causing bacteria."
https://rationalground.com/whats-on-your-mask-at-the-end-of-a-day/
"The described mask-related changes in respiratory physiology can have an adverse effect on the wearer’s blood gases sub-clinically and in some cases also clinically manifest and, therefore, have a negative effect on the basis of all aerobic life, external and internal respiration, with an influence on a wide variety of organ systems and metabolic processes with physical, psychological and social consequences for the individual human being."
Source: Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards?, March 2021
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344/htm
"Wearing a surgical mask modifies significantly and clinically dyspnea without influencing walked distance."
Source: Effect of a surgical mask on six minute walking distance, March 2018
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29395560/
"Ventilation, cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and comfort are reduced by surgical masks and highly impaired by FFP2/N95 face masks in healthy individuals."
Source: Effects of surgical and FFP2/N95 face masks on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity, July 2020
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00392-020-01704-y
"Prolonged use of N95 and surgical masks by healthcare professionals during COVID-19 has caused adverse effects such as headaches, rash, acne, skin breakdown, and impaired cognition in the majority of those surveyed."
Source: Adverse Effects of Prolonged Mask Use among Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19
4 Additional Mask Studies
"The hypercapnic hypoxia may potentially increase acidic environment, cardiac overload, anaerobic metabolism and renal overload, which may substantially aggravate the underlying pathology of established chronic diseases. Further contrary to the earlier thought, no evidence exists to claim the facemasks during exercise offer additional protection from the droplet transfer of the virus."
Source: Exercise with facemask; Are we handling a devil's sword? - A physiological hypothesis, November 2020
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32590322/
"Wearing an N95 mask for 4 hours during HD significantly reduced PaO2 and increased respiratory adverse effects in ESRD patients."
Source: The physiological impact of wearing an N95 mask during hemodialysis as a precaution against SARS in patients with end-stage renal disease, August 2004
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15340662/
"Breathing through N95 mask materials have been shown to impede gaseous exchange and impose an additional workload on the metabolic system of pregnant healthcare workers, and this needs to be taken into consideration in guidelines for respirator use."
Source: Respiratory consequences of N95-type Mask usage in pregnant healthcare workers-a controlled clinical study, November 2015
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26579222/
"Respiratory pathogens on the outer surface of the used medical masks may result in self-contamination. The risk is higher with longer duration of mask use (> 6 h) and with higher rates of clinical contact."
Source: Contamination by respiratory viruses on outer surface of medical masks used by hospital healthcare workers, June 2019
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31159777/
"Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection."
Source: A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers, April 2015
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/
"Masks are not only tools, they are also talismans that may help increase health care workers’ perceived sense of safety, well-being, and trust in their hospitals."
Source: New England Journal of Medicine, Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era, May 2020
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
"Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza."
Source: N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel, September 2019
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2749214
"we found no significant difference between N95 respirators and surgical masks in associated risk of (a) laboratory-confirmed respiratory infection"
Source: Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks in protecting health care workers from acute respiratory infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis
https://www.cmaj.ca/content/188/8/567
"Six of eight randomised controlled trials found no significant differences between control and intervention groups (masks with or without hand hygiene; N95/P2 respirators). One household trial found that mask wearing coupled with hand sanitiser use reduced secondary transmission of upper respiratory infection/influenza‐like illness/laboratory‐confirmed influenza compared with education; hand sanitiser alone resulted in no reduction."
Source: The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence, December 2011
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5779801/
"Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds."
Source: Use of surgical face masks to reduce the incidence of the common cold among health care workers in Japan: a randomized controlled trial, February 2009
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19216002/
"The penetration levels obtained for fabric materials against both polydisperse and monodisperse aerosols were much higher than the value for the control N95 respirator filter media but were in the range found for some surgical masks in previous studies."
Source: Simple Respiratory Protection—Evaluation of the Filtration Performance of Cloth Masks and Common Fabric Materials Against 20–1000 nm Size Particles, June 2010
https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/54/7/789/202744
"There are no studies of individuals wearing homemade fabric masks in the course of their typical activities."
Source: Rapid Expert Consultation on the Effectiveness of Fabric Masks for the COVID-19 Pandemic, April 2020
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