Swine flu mask

With all the hype it's hard to ignore swine flu. A few months from now it's possible we may barely remember the great swine flu panic of the Spring of 2009. But given how the Obama administration won't let a crisis go to waste it's likely we'll be hearing about it as long as lawmakers are debating health care.

But what about those masks? The CDC recommends the use of N95 masks around tuberculosis patients.

While I don't know how tiny the flu virus is, I'm betting that the N95 will block them, too. N95 masks are sold at most hardware stores and should be available unless there has been a run on them.

Added later, from Houston:

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston nurses and doctors are getting ready to treat swine flu patients. First they must be fitted with an N95 mask and then they test it to make sure the seal is tight. One by one some 400-500 people will have these protective masks, but they say what really spreads swine flu, is not so much breathing it but touching it.

UPDATE: The CDC has updated the recommendations regarding the H1N1 flu and masks as of April 27, 2009 011:00AM ET:

When crowded settings or close contact with others cannot be avoided, the use of facemasks1 or respirators2 in areas where transmission of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus has been confirmed should be considered as follows:

1. Whenever possible, rather than relying on the use of facemasks or respirators, close contact with people who might be ill and being in crowded settings should be avoided.

2. Facemasks1 should be considered for use by individuals who enter crowded settings, both to protect their nose and mouth from other people's coughs and to reduce the wearers' likelihood of coughing on others; the time spent in crowded settings should be as short as possible.

3. Respirators2 should be considered for use by individuals for whom close contact with an infectious person is unavoidable. This can include selected individuals who must care for a sick person (e.g., family member with a respiratory infection) at home.

These interim recommendations will be revised as new information about the use of facemasks and respirators in the current setting becomes available.

For more information about human infection with swine influenza virus, visit the CDC H1N1 Flu website.

1 Unless otherwise specified, the term "facemasks" refers to disposable masks cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as medical devices. This includes facemasks labeled as surgical, dental, medical procedure, isolation, or laser masks. Such facemasks have several designs. One type is affixed to the head with two ties, conforms to the face with the aid of a flexible adjustment for the nose bridge, and may be flat/pleated or duck-billed in shape. Another type of facemask is pre-molded, adheres to the head with a single elastic band, and has a flexible adjustment for the nose bridge. A third type is flat/pleated and affixes to the head with ear loops. Facemasks cleared by the FDA for use as medical devices have been determined to have specific levels of protection from penetration of blood and body fluids.

2 Unless otherwise specified, "respirator" refers to an N95 or higher filtering facepiece respirator certified by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

3 Three feet has often been used by infection control professionals to define close contact and is based on studies of respiratory infections; however, for practical purposes, this distance may range up to 6 feet. The World Health Organization uses "approximately 1 meter"; the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration uses "within 6 feet." For consistency with these estimates, this document defines close contact as a distance of up to 6 feet.

Comments

[Joe Hathaway]

If the flu virus were the size of a human, the tuberculosis bacterium would be about the size of the Statue of Liberty. A mask which stops bacteria is totally ineffective agains viruses.

[Geo]

Let's just hold our breaths, Joe.

[Cyber Rainbow]

WHO has declared a pandemic. So get your masks for the fall.