Posted on 06/27/2020 8:34:23 AM PDT by ransomnote
Yesterday’s Scientific Dogma is Today’s Discarded Fable
Introduction
The above quotation is ascribed to Justice Archie Campbell author of Canada’s SARS Commission Final Report. 1 It is a stark reminder that scientific knowledge is constantly changing as new discoveries contradict established beliefs. For at least three decades a face mask has been deemed an essential component of the personal protective equipment worn by dental personnel. A current article, “Face Mask Performance: Are You Protected” gives the impression that masks are capable of providing an acceptable level of protection from airborne pathogens. 2 Studies of recent diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Ebola Crisis combined with those of seasonal influenza and drug resistant tuberculosis have promoted a better understanding of how respiratory diseases are transmitted. Concurrently, with this appreciation, there have been a number of clinical investigations into the efficacy of protective devices such as face masks. This article will describe how the findings of such studies lead to a rethinking of the benefits of wearing a mask during the practice of dentistry. It will begin by describing new concepts relating to infection control especially personal protective equipment (PPE).
Trends in Infection Control
For the past three decades there has been minimal opposition to what have become seemingly established and accepted infection control recommendations. In 2009, infection control specialist Dr. D. Diekema questioned the validity of these by asking what actual, front-line hospital-based infection control experiences were available to such authoritative organization as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 3 In the same year, while commenting on guidelines for face masks, Dr. M. Rupp of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America noted that some of the practices relating to infection control that have been in place for decades, ”haven’t been subjected to the same strenuous investigation that, for instance, a new medicine might be subjected.” 4 He opined that perhaps it is the relative cheapness and apparent safety of face masks that has prevented them from undergoing the extensive studies that should be required for any quality improvement device. 4 More recently, Dr. R. MacIntyre, a prolific investigator of face masks, has forcefully stated that the historical reliance on theoretical assumptions for recommending PPEs should be replaced by rigorously acquired clinical data. 5 She noted that most studies on face masks have been based on laboratory simulated tests which quite simply have limited clinical applicability as they cannot account for such human factors as compliance, coughing and talking. 5
Covering the nose and mouth for infection control started in the early 1900s when the German physician Carl Flugge discovered that exhaled droplets could transmit tuberculosis. 4 The science regarding the aerosol transmission of infectious diseases has, for years, been based on what is now appreciated to be “very outmoded research and an overly simplistic interpretation of the data.” 6 Modern studies are employing sensitive instruments and interpretative techniques to better understand the size and distribution of potentially infectious aerosol particles. 6 Such knowledge is paramount to appreciating the limitations of face masks. Nevertheless, it is the historical understanding of droplet and airborne transmission that has driven the longstanding and continuing tradition of mask wearing among health professionals. In 2014, the nursing profession was implored to “stop using practice interventions that are based on tradition” but instead adopt protocols that are based on critical evaluations of the available evidence. 7
A December 2015 article in the National Post seems to ascribe to Dr. Gardam, Director of Infection Prevention and Control, Toronto University Health Network the quote, “I need to choose which stupid, arbitrary infection control rules I’m going to push.” 8 In a communication with the author, Dr. Gardam explained that this was not a personal belief but that it did reflect the views of some infection control practitioners. In her 2014 article, “Germs and the Pseudoscience of Quality Improvement”, Dr. K Sibert, an anaesthetist with an interest in infection control, is of the opinion that many infection control rules are indeed arbitrary, not justified by the available evidence or subjected to controlled follow-up studies, but are devised, often under pressure, to give the appearance of doing something. 9
The above illustrate the developing concerns that many infection control measures have been adopted with minimal supporting evidence. To address this fault, the authors of a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) article eloquently argue that all safety and quality improvement recommendations must be subjected to the same rigorous testing as would any new clinical intervention. 10 Dr. R. MacIntyre, a proponent of this trend in infection control, has used her research findings to boldly state that, “it would not seem justifiable to ask healthcare workers to wear surgical masks.” 4 To understand this conclusion it is necessary to appreciate the current concepts relating to airborne transmissions.
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A bandanna isn’t as bad as a mask, but it’s still uncomfortable.
This was the study that convinced me that masks are useful at source control and more importantly, can be used as an argument to reopen the economy.
I am no longer interested in what the anti-maskers have to say because their resistance has now become the object of argument to keep the economy shut down as much as possible until the elections.
We are going to lose the war trying to win the battle. If Covid19 is psy-ops, then we need to smarten up and stop being distracted by this mask battle.
Getting the economy moving is the best way to win the actual war. So let “them” have the win on masks so “we” can win on reopening.
It really doesn’t matter whether the masks do or do not slow transmission, what matters is that Trump wins re-election in November or we are freaking screwed, forever.
Mask resistance allows them to argue for slowing re-opening and vote by mail. I have a feeling that half the anti-mask memes on social media are being pushed by foreign commie trolls.
I feel like the progressives are SkyNet, they just keep coming and coming at us and they won’t stop until we are dead.
As for the dental article above, I seem to remember that they started wearing PPE in the 80’s when it was proven that an HIV positive dentist had infected a patient. Source control - it’s why we have plastic hoods/shields on buffets at restaurants to prevent the spread of Hepatitis and why face shields or mouth guards are used in food prep and processing plants, to prevent the spread of food borne illnesses as well as Hepatitis.
I made myself a lovely handknit mask from wool/rayon sock yarn. It not only stops dirty looks from the Karens, but wool has a unique moisture wicking property as well as being naturally anti-bacterial and the rayon makes it silky. If necessary it stretches nicely over an N95.
35% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 will show no symptoms. The only way they’d know they were infected is if they happened to get tested during the window when it would show up on a test. Many others will show symptoms so mild they could easily be mistaken for allergies. So with that in mind, how exactly do you know if you’re infected (and need to wear a mask to protect others when you go out) or if you don’t have it?
That’s the point of the guidance: that nobody really knows for certain that they aren’t currently infected with this.
thank you for that- I will check that out some more then- first I’ve heard that it increases immune IL-6 and TNFa
I believe the TNFa is what goes wonky with people with autoimmune diseases- it goes haywire- and the body attacks itself then-
Maybe taking D along with an immune system modulator would be ok? But I’d have to research that-
i havent read through this and dont have time
but
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7025907/
interestingly
il6, vitamin D, and Genetechs drug that is used to fight covid
But giving them one more yuge chunk of our Freedom will probably work this time, right?
Good Lord, forcing everybody to wear masks IS their way to maintain a hysterical level of virus awareness and, more importantly to them, virus fear! Mask mandates ABSOLUTELY will NOT slow their drive for broad-based, fraud-enabling mail-in voting. Instead, it will validate them.
Wear whatever the heck you want, I don't care. Let stores and people decide what is best. I trust the market place of Freedom far more than I trust government to decide - for God's sake, if we have learned anything from this pathetic episode it is that, YES, the govt will lie to you even about life and death matters - as long as it is seen as a Trump-resisting move.
Freedom Matters.
Hard to tell sometimes, but it's still in the name here.
Masks still won’t allow anyone to ride a bus or subway or go to a bar because people touch their mask and then touch other things.
The bottom line is if you think the disease will kill you or someone you have contact with, stay home/avoid the people.
The rest of us can get this disease, and get over it. The sooner everyone gets it, the sooner everything gets back to normal.
because it transfers asymptomatically, it CANNOT be stopped. Masks just prolong the misery.
Lots of good points there.
In that profession I would surely concur a very effective mask is warranted. You must have stories to tell about those who did not wear them.
Scroll down to section 5 if you're in a hurry.
Thanks. 
But a steady wind at your back on a sunny day is better if you are the uninfected.
I have cat-like reflexes.
I thought of that...how many are illegals with no regard for rules, culture, cleanliness is what I should have said.
I’ve thought about that. I’m not sure it’s allowed. I’m a server, so food service might require an actual mask? Not that they do any good.
thank you forthat- I’ll read it tomorrow- too late tonight-
A company that makes ear loop masks, tells its users, their mask will not protect users from
Corona 19 Viruses:
https://media.thedonald.win/thedonald/post/XGdfOknn.jpeg
Here’s a quite bit cheaper mask with copper and zinc layer- they are about $12 per mask- gotta order 4 at a time, so it’s $50 overall
Not sure if they can be washed like the Israeli masks can be- i asked at the site if they could be- would be a boon to hospitals and health centers if they could use these type masks- and not as expensive as some emerging copper type masks
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