Don't Trash Your Neck Gaiters Yet, Based On A Media Frenzy Over A Preliminary Experiment

 

  Seems there has been a bit of a stampede to over-interpret the recent Duke experiment in how to study droplets coming out of masks. Heck, even Dr. Scrase, the Human Services Secretary with Dr. after his name, seems to be jumping to conclusions. But the Duke study was about finding out how to study masks, not a finished product on mask vs gaiter vs other stuff effectiveness. For details, go to the Science News article.

Snippets from the article: "The study tested how to test masks, not which masks are best."

“The headline that neck gaiters can be worse is totally inaccurate,” says Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. Publicity like this is worrisome because “it can turn people off of mask wearing, which we know can protect both the individual wearing the mask and those around them,” she says.

Sigh.  I'm sure some masks and coverings are more efficient than others, and the wearer has considerable influence too, as I know from the way individuals were tested to fit HEPA masks when I worked in a rad lab. Seems to me that to make sense in this context, a controlled experiment under the conditions of running or biking is in order. Under high exertion, would a tight fitting N95 type mask merely get pushed away from your face by strong exhalation during extreme exertion, creating an exhaust mechanism for droplets? What happens to the viruses, if present, if big droplets get made into little ones and evaporate faster? Do we test under stationary bike and treadmill conditions? And finally, any study has to be peer reviewed. 

 I think the authors of the study should have known that an uncritical and unscientific press would jump to conclusions and run with this. I'm shaking my head.

 Definitely wear something if you are remotely close to other people, and wear the most protective gear appropriate. Stay tuned for updates on good experiments. Above all, use your brain! 

New York Times article on gaiter effectiveness.

 Thanks to my pen pal Michael Johnson for this link:

Mask Facts, by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.