Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogabam here and by now, in this coronavirus pandemic, we should all be able to agree about the importance of wearing masks. But way back at the beginning a year or so ago, the word wasn't so clear, as researchers and scientists wrestled with new data surrounding this novel virus.
What the experts were saying about masks may have been a little confusing, especially as they were trying to reserve the limited supply of medical grade masks for medical professionals on the front lines until more could be made. But it's now more than a hundred million people have been stricken by COVID nineteen, the disease that springs from this coronavirus infection. More than two point two million have died the world. Scientists now have enough data, enough proof to
definitively state masks work. We spoke with Mary Beth Sexton, a professor in the Emory University School of Medicines Division of Infectious Disease. She said, as frustrating as it is when you're in the community and you're getting information and it changes. This has actually been a great example of how science is supposed to work. You go at the best knowledge you have at the time, and as soon as you know something different, you let people know, you
explain it, you change. And that's what has happened here. Now, as the virus mutates into different variants, masks are as critical as ever, and some people are suggesting doubling up. That's right, wearing two masks to keep everyone safe and get this pandemic under control. Dr Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a White House news briefing on February three, there's nothing wrong with people wearing two masks. I often
myself wear two masks. Can we make a general recommendation that has scientific basis yet? No. But when the science comes along and tells us that it's better or not, then you will see a recommendation being made by the CDC or centers for disease control and prevention. But let's back up a step. Why damasks work in the first place. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus two or stars COVE two travels through the air, we need masks as one
measure among many to keep it from spreading. Here are three examples of how mask usage has helped curb the viruses transmission in real life. Service members who wore masks on the U S S. Theodore Roosevelt, which experienced a COVID outbreak on board in March, were some less likely to be infected than those who did not. A study of a d and thirty one clients in the Missouri Health Salon showed that none were infected by two stylists
who had COVID nineteen. Both workers wore masks, as did every one of the clients, and during a surge in Arizona in the summer of a statewide mask wearing mandate, along with limits on large gatherings and more attention to social distancing, helped to stabilize transmission rates, which then decreased by some sevent as the summer war on. According to the CDC, control of the virus through masking works in two fairly obvious ways. First, a mask stops those who
have the virus from spreading it. The second, masks keep those without the virus from being infected. As the CDC website puts, it. The relationship between source control and personal protection is likely complementary and possibly synergistic, so that individual benefit increases with increasing community mask use. Physically speaking, though, how does a mask stop though wily and extremely tiny virus. It's all about getting in the way, the Sexton explained.
Even though the virus itself is incredibly small, the virus doesn't travel by itself. If you are infected with COVID and you put the virus out into the environment, it's contained within these respiratory particles, and there's a mix of what people call droplets and aerosols. Aerosols are a little smaller, but even an aerosol is so much bigger than the
virus itself. I think of those particles that show up in slow mo pictures of a call for a sneeze, or even just talking, or the way that you can see your breath in the air on a cold day. If you were infected with COVID, every one of those particles contain millions of COVID viruses. A mask helps trap those particles coming and going. A January article in the Medical Journals Cell explained filtering is not seeving out things
that are too large to pass through holes in the material. Rather, air must curve as it flows around into dual, tightly packed fibers of the material, like a race car swerving around cones of an obstacle course. As the air curves, the aerosols that it carries can't make the sharp bends and therefore slams into the fibers or they become too close to the fibers and stick to them. The type of mask, of course, is important, as is how it's worn.
The CDC recommends a mask that has at least two layers of washable, breathable material, that covers both your nose and your mouth fully keep that nose in there, and that fits snugly around your face without any gaps. A Sexton said, there's been a lot of conversation about should people wear two masks, should people wear medical grade masks, what should people do? And I think that what we can get lost in some of that discussion is that the most important thing is that everyone wears a mask.
Some people have already been doubling up in what Fauci calls a common sense approach, but new research from the CDC published in the agency's February one Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report says that either wearing two masks or wearing a properly fitted single mask closely on your face does prevent the spread of COVID nineteen more than wearing just
one loosely fitted mask. Sexton explained, if having two masks on is actually going to make you have your hands on your face more, or if it's uncomfortable and you keep moving it and putting it back on, or if it's falling off your ear or hanging off your ear on a loop, all of those things are counterproductive. If that's happening, you should just focus on one that's of really good quality and fits you well. If you can do two in such a way that actually improves the
quality or improves the fit, that may make sense. You should also wash or sanitize your hands before putting on your mask or before doing anything else that requires you to touch your mask or your face. Don't mess with the mask while it's on. Take it off carefully, handling only the ear loops or ties, and fold the outside edges together that keeps any virus is trapped. Wash it regularly, especially if it's wet when you take it off. Also, wet masks are less effective when they're on, so if
yours gets damp, change it out for a spare. And finally, if you're fiddling with it too much while wearing it, it probably doesn't fit you right, try another one and remember that as a February second, masks are required on any form of public transportation and in transportation hubs like train and bus stations. Today's episode was written by John Donovan and produced by Tyler Clay. For more on this and lots of other topics, visit how Stuff works dot com.
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