While the sales of face masks and respirators have surged worldwide, their effectiveness in protecting the wearer against an airborne virus, such as A (H1N1) is limited. This year the Kingdom's Ministry of Health is recommending the use of surgical masks in crowds to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus. Moreover, it has revised its national plan for communicable diseases, under which the health minister has said that pilgrims will be required to wear face masks in order to reduce the risk of flu transmission. Moreover, certain district municipalities, apart from stepping up food safety, have placed a condition on barbers to use disposable gloves and wear a face mask. The question, however, is what constitutes a ‘mask' and how helpful they are in protecting against the virus. Dr. Essam Mousa, an internal medicine consultant in a hospital in Jeddah, has recommended “any kind of three-layered masks” for protection against the infection. However, Dr. V. P. M. Mustafa, the medical director of a local polyclinic in Jeddah, said the effectiveness of masks in protecting against the infection is not ‘100 percent guaranteed'. “Because the mask does not stick to the skin, there is a gap between the mask and the skin, through which the virus can enter,” he said. The virus can still make its way through your fingers touching your nose or mouth, which may have earlier touched infected hard surfaces like door handles, food counters and supermarket trolleys. While not recommending the general public to wear masks, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) says the effectiveness of respirators and facemasks in preventing the transmission of A(H1N1) or seasonal influenza in various settings is not reliably known. The CDC also says that the use of a facemask or respirator (e.g. N95) is more likely to be of benefit if used as early as possible when exposed to an ill person and when the facemask or respirator is used consistently. People around the world are sensibly taking precautions like buying surgical masks, hand and surface sanitizers, and flu kits. In fact, some surgical mask traders have reported a 50 percent increase in demand for the masks in some parts of the Kingdom. Pilgrims sporting masks in the two holy cities is now a common sight. When using masks as a precautionary measure, Dr. Mustafa said that everyday fresh masks should be used and that it is not safe to dispose the masks in a regular manner. “Masks should not be disposed in a dustbin. Place the used masks in a closed bag, and it is better that the bag is disposed outside the house,” he advised. A study conducted in Hong Kong in collaboration with the CDC last year, the findings of which were published early this month, showed that hand hygiene and face masks seem to slow the spread of flu when the measures are used simultaneously and within 36 hours of one person in the house getting sick. Whether or not you wear a mask, it should, however, be kept in mind that no single action will provide complete protection, but an approach combining the other preventive measures, which is aptly summed up in the guidelines provided by the National Guard Health Affairs: Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, maintaining a distance of more than an arm's length from those who are infected with flu or display flu symptoms, avoiding crowded places, and covering coughs and sneezes among others, can help decrease the likelihood of transmission.
