NDA Journal 8 Featured Article Cochrane Library Analysis on Functionality of Physical Barriers to Respiratory Disease Transmission A writing by Robert Malone, MD, reports that the Cochrane Library has been reviewing the use of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses since 2010. By physical interventions, they mean masks, shields, gowns, hand-washing, etc.1 According to the Library: “Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) pose a global threat. Examples are influenza (H1N1) caused by the H1N1pdm09 virus in 2009, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Antiviral drugs and vaccines may be insufficient to prevent their spread.” “The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions. There were additional RCTs during the pandemic related to physical interventions but a relative paucity given the importance of the question of masking and its relative effectiveness and the concomitant measures of mask adherence which would be highly relevant to the measurement of effectiveness, especially in the elderly and in young children.” “The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analyzed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated.” “There is a need for large, well- designed RCTs addressing the effectiveness of many of these interventions in multiple settings and populations, as well as the impact of adherence on effectiveness, especially in those most at risk of ARIs.” Diseases evaluated included influenza and COVID-19 during the pandemic, and these researchers failed to find even a “modest effect” on infection or illness rates from any type of mask. Furthermore, the effects that masking is having on health, childhood development, speech development, etc. are unknown and are under- investigated. The answer to the damage done may never be documented. Many mask mandates are gone, but many still remain, and governments will reinstate the directives at a whim.2,3,4 The CDC is still recommending masking in areas with “high” transmission levels and also recommends indoor masking to protect high-risk contacts in “medium” counties. Currently, that means 27% of all counties in the USA. Luckily, more and more Americans aren’t drinking the Kool-Aid. Only 15.5% of Americans have received the bivalent recent booster. The CDC has now removed the category of six months to under five on its vaccine tracker page, but the data can be found on a deep dive. It appears to be about 8% vaccinated for this age cohort. References Jefferson T, Dooley L, et.al. Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, Cochrane Library, https://img.theepochtimes. com/assets/uploads/2023/02/03/2_Malone_Masks-1200x625.jpg, accessed 07 FEB 2023. Shamus K, Ann Arbor schools require masks as several others recommend masking, Detroit Free Press, 10 JAN 2023. Tilley C, Masks make a comeback: Hundreds of thousands of students across the US will be forced to wear face coverings when classes go back this week as schools revive controversial mandates, Dailymail.com, 02 JAN 2023. Coviello J, University advises masking indoors as winter illnesses spike across Connecticut, Charger Bulletin, The University of New Haven, 01 FEB 2023. 1 2 3 4 0
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