[wahyinghung]

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Vancouver's Chief Medical Health Officer says surgical masks can do more harm than good when it comes to protecting against cold's and flu's, including the H1N1 virus.

Dr. Patricia Daly says if you touch the mask, it can be contaminated with germs from your hands. "As they become moist they become less effective and if people are handling them with their hands they may actually expose their hands to viruses and other organisms. If they touch their face, or their mouth or eyes, their nose they then may expose themselves to those viruses."

She also advises against parents sending their children to school wearing the masks, it could actually put them at a higher risk of becoming ill.
http://news1130.com/images/2009/09/SwineFluCourestyCDC.jpg

[2damaxmr2]

you need mil spec nbc mask.

[Hondaracer]

do the people that actually wear fucking painters masks think they block microbes anyways? they are for painting and larger dusk particles not tiny micro bacteria..

[Vansterdam]

well no shit

[dna82]

Masks do work, all types.
N95's will do a good job of preventing inhalation of aerosols, bad thing is most people don't realize it's a single use item.

surgical masks are good too, as long as you don't touch your face, and again, single use item.

moral of the story, stop touching your face.

[Hondaracer]

how do surgical masks work when it's not providing suction to your face?

when you can stick your finger down the top of the mask, it's not keeping out shit.

[dna82]

how do surgical masks work when it's not providing suction to your face?

when you can stick your finger down the top of the mask, it's not keeping out shit.

surgical masks will prevent large particles from being inhaled directly and some are water resistant to resist aerosols. the point is, you will never be 100% safe against particulates. n95 only filter 95% of particulates. the point is to reduce the number of times you can be exposed to the virus.

likewise the best solution is to not touch your face. some people find that having a physical barrier between your hands and your face, helps. it removes the temptation to touch your own face.

[Meowjin]

i had swine flu. it blew goats.

[StylinRed]

thats because ppl dont know how to handle a mask properly


N99 maks work better ^^

[SkinnyPupp]

HEADLINES~!

[Hondaracer]

Lol @ ppl actually knowing about/wearing masks..

[StylinRed]

^^^ i had to know though cuz of school and places ive been in

so i got an excuse, not a nut :P

[misteranswer]

Lol @ ppl actually know math 11..

Fixed

[asahai69]

the next hottest thing to be sold at the night market/aberdeen center http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/inspectors/images/suit1.jpg

[urrh]

not gonna stop all those chinese people from wearing it

[dna82]

Lol @ ppl actually knowing about/wearing masks..

some of us work with infectious diseases so it's kind of mandatory to know this stuff.

[RRxtar]

Lol @ ppl actually knowing about/wearing masks..
had to learn about masks to get a licence from the Ministry of Environment for my work

[Hondaracer]

Fixed

Let me guess, your family are the type to wear masks out walking their dog?

It doesn't take math 11 to figure out the odds of contracting H1N1 are about as good as winning the lottery and dieing from it even worse

anyone taking extreme measures to try and protect themselves from it is ignorant.

[twitchyzero]

^ i can see why people would be wearing it on the bus/skytrain

this dude sitting next to me was hacking right into me..didnt even bother to cover it up by any means

next morning i had a sore throat

[_Hotsauce_]

Cough into your mid-arm and wash your fucking hands.