I asked him if he thought the increase could be related to the masks that everyone is wearing to protect against the coronavirus. “Definitely,” he answered. He went on to explain that most of the staph infections he treated were in the mouth and nasal passages. Could it be that the masks are causing more harm than good?
Recently, my local newspaper contained an editorial with this banner headline: “Wear a mask for the sake of strangers.” It went on to explain that “anyone whose face is now uncovered in public is truly unmasked as a nonconformist…. But by scorning masks many outliers express disregard for the rest of humanity.” The editorial went on to complain that there will always be people who resist social norms and laws, and applauded the Governor’s intention to impose monetary fines on non-compliers.
However, there was not one bit of science in the paper’s editorial. Why are we wearing masks? At the beginning of summer my local state representative in her regular newsletter urged all of her constituents to wear masks, and she provided a link to a scientific study.
I went to the link and discovered that it was a study of the efficacy of wearing masks in a hospital environment. Well, duh! Who would doubt the value of doctors and nurses wearing masks in an operating room? The masks are worn to protect patients whose defenses are breached in the course of surgery. Any open wound is prone to infection. Moreover, medical professionals are trained in the proper use of masks, and usually discard them after one use. Even so, many patients still develop infections while in hospital settings.
But what about the general public? Just last week the same state representative sent out a mask update warning people to use the masks properly. She wrote,
Use the loops to take your mask on and off.
Do not touch your mask while you are wearing it.
Be sure your mask covers your nose, mouth and chin.
I love advice like this that is almost impossible to follow for ordinary people. Just look at people adjusting their masks while putting them on or taking them off. Imagine not touching your mask inadvertently. Also, how many times do you see people with their masks only covering their chin? Ordinarily, our skin protects us from germs of all kinds even when they land on our chins but when you move the mask from your chin to cover your nose and mouth, you are potentially bringing all sorts of bacteria into your mouth and nasal passages.
Although politicians and media commentators continue to urge people to wear masks in public, I have seen no study that would indicate that they are effective in keeping ordinary people from infecting others, or being infected by others. Social distancing and frequent washing makes more sense to me. Fortunately, the coronavirus has largely disappeared in Connecticut.
In my town of Fairfield there are about 62000 residents. In its weekly update the town informed us that so far 808 of us have tested positive for the coronavirus and that 145 have died. Of those who have died 107 were over 80, 22 were between 70 and 79, and 13 were between 60 and 69. About 92% of those who have died were already in nursing homes.
Under the age of 60 only three people have died and not one school age child has died. In the last three months there have been only 144 new positives despite greatly increased testing. The so-called “positivity” rate (positive results as a percentage of tests) is almost zero. Only seven deaths have been attributed to the coronavirus since June 19.
Nevertheless, it is now regarded as a kind of crime against humanity to appear in public without a mask. Although there is no scientific study that children can infect others, all children must wear masks in school. Does anyone remember the many diseases that children brought home from school last year? Why weren't masks needed then?
On a somewhat related note, my local newspaper ran a front page story today with the headline: “Doctors drop use of lead X-ray aprons.” Apparently, doctors at Yale Hospital are abandoning the lead shields because they have found that they actually do more harm than good.
Describing it as a monumental shift in medical practice, the radiology director at Yale explained that over the past 50 years “they were taught over and over again to shield, to shield, to shield … to protect the patient. However, research has found that the lead shield not only does little if anything to protect the gonads from radiation that might cause genetic defects or cancer, but that it may result in an increase.”
Fifty years of science out the window. It will be interesting to read the final scientific verdict on the wearing of masks.
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