in World News Another mask study suggests they’re more harmful than helpful
Mike Campbell
A new study on face masks suggests that immuno-compromised people shouldn’t wear masks too often because they can lead to a build-up of microbes that can cause respiratory infections over time.
The study had a sample size of 109 people and studied both sides of the masks (outer and face side) to see if germ build-up was happening and to what extent the different types of masks affected germ build-up.
“We observed bacterial colonies in 99% of the samples on the face-side and 94% on the outer side,” researchers said.
Further, researchers found “no significant differences in the colony counts among the different mask types, regardless of the duration of usage.”
Rather ironically, bacterial colonies can play a role in developing respiratory infections.
“We propose that immunocompromised people should avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection,” researchers concluded.
New Nature paper.
Bottom line:
They sampled masks from 109 volunteers and found that they are riddled with culturable pathogenic bacterial and fungal colonies which can potentially cause respiratory infections.
Immunocompromised should avoid masks.https://t.co/8FBFRTvelB
— Jonathan Engler
(@jengleruk) July 19, 2022