Research results comparing the effectiveness of 'cloth masks,' 'surgical masks,' 'KN95 masks,' and 'N95 masks' in preventing COVID-19 infections to find the most effective mask are published
It is known that wearing a mask is
Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with SARS-CoV-2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental study - eBioMedicine
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(24)00192-0/fulltext
Study shows N95 masks near-perfect at blocking escape of airborne COVID-19 | University of Maryland | School of Public Health
https://sph.umd.edu/news/study-shows-n95-masks-near-perfect-blocking-escape-airborne-covid-19
Masks have the effect of reducing the amount of COVID-19 inhaled into the body and the amount of COVID-19 excreted from the body. The research team focused on the amount of COVID-19 excreted from the body and conducted an experiment to verify the effectiveness of masks in preventing COVID-19 excretion on 44 subjects confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.
In the experiment, subjects were asked to wear one of three masks: a cloth mask, a surgical mask, a KN95 mask, or an N95 mask. The aerosol emitted when the subjects spoke was collected and the amount of COVID-19 contained in the aerosol was measured. N95 masks come in cup-like and duck-beak-like shapes, but the beak-shaped ' ACI 3120 Surgical N95 ' was used in the experiment.
The graph below compares the amount of COVID-19 virus without the mask (dashed line) and with the amount of COVID-19 virus with the mask (solid line) in subjects wearing a cloth mask (blue), a surgical mask (purple), a KN95 (green), and an N95 (red). It can be seen that the amount of virus is reduced when wearing a mask for all types of masks.
The experimental data was organized taking into account 'differences by gender,' 'differences by age,' and 'differences by variants of the new coronavirus,' and the graph below shows 'how much the amount of virus emission can be reduced when wearing a mask compared to when it is removed.' The mask that reduced the amount of virus emission the most was the N95 (1.7%), followed by cloth masks (13%), surgical masks (26%), and KN95 (29%).
Based on the results of the experiment, the research team concluded that 'N95 masks are significantly more effective than other types of masks in controlling the source of infection of the new coronavirus.' In addition, the reason for the low effectiveness of KN95 masks was explained as 'KN95s are hard and do not fit well to the face.' As for cloth masks, they also pointed out that 'it is difficult to evaluate their effectiveness because the subjects brought their own cloth masks.'
How to wear a beak-shaped N95 mask is explained in detail in the following video released by Kyoto City.
Infection control training video 3rd lecture related material 5 'N95 mask putting on and taking off: beak type' (with audio) - YouTube
In addition, the beak-type N95 mask 'ACI 3120 Surgical N95' used in the study is also sold in Japan, and at the time of writing, 50 pieces are available on Amazon.co.jp for 8,147 yen (tax included) (163 yen per piece).
Amazon | ACI American-made Surgical N95 Masks, 1 box of 50, Medical Masks, Blue, US NIOSH Approved, Beak-shaped Foldable, Made in the USA | Disposable Foldable Dust Masks | Industrial and Research Development Supplies Online Store
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