Do You Wear Masks the Right Way?

Face masks and hand sanitizers are the two most important things since 2020. Although vaccines promise more robust protection against COVID-19, face masks are still believed to curb community spread. In some countries, people started adopting the double-masking routine due to the pandemic's deadly second wave.

Researchers from UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science demonstrated how loose-fitting masks could be inefficient in protecting us from airborne infections. The findings of the study were published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports .

Test your Knowledge on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus is a large positive-strand RNA virus that is surrounded by a protein envelope. The virus obtains its name from the S protein spikes on its surface, which resemble a crown. The overall pattern of increasing coronavirus cases is shown to spike up with the “second wave” of COVID-19.

With spiking effects of the second wave of coronavirus, the best way to keep it at bay is to follow COVID-appropriate safety practices like wearing a mask, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue along with physical distancing (6 feet about 2 arm's length), that may help evade the severity of COVID-19 infection.

‘Loose-fitting masks could contribute to 30% to 95% aerosol leak.’

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"Many people do not realize that the fit of face masks can vary. There are different face shapes and different sizes of masks," said Rupak Banerjee, a professor in UC's Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

The team used three different-sized N95 face masks from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health attached to three different-sized mannequin heads identified as small, medium, and large. Using Computerized Tomography (CT), they created a 3D computer-aided design model. The gaps between the masks and the face of each dummy head were calculated.

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The key findings from their assessment are,

• The airflow rate through the gaps of loose-fitting masks contributed from 30% to 95% of aerosol transport.

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• The air leaks were around the nose most of the time.

• The worst-fitting masks can reduce masking power and double the infection risk to the wearers and people around them.

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Banerjee is also the editor of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering Journal of Medical Devices. He said that the team would have a special issue soon about pandemic-response medical devices, including face masks and face shields.

"We're still not sure how effective the vaccine is on the variants. So, it's a good idea to continue wearing masks in gatherings for now," he added.

Source-Medindia