The 'dose' of coronavirus a person gets may determine how sick they get; masks could help

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I was recently talking here on another thread about viral load in the equation of virulence (virulence = a quasi-“viral poisonous effect”).

I was ridiculed for bringing out this concept
(despite the “viral load” principle being brought out many times publicly since the start of the pandemic).

This article actually makes some sense. (But as the article says “could”.)

Of course the problem is, there is no definition of a “mask” so you MAY be talking about apples and oranges.

The other obvious problem is masks are supposed to be changed. We don’t know how often, but probably several times a day at least.

Not hung from the rear-view mirror until needed to again fool the store people.

The other issue is if masks are NOT frequently changed, they can be proverbial viral concentrating devices.

There are other issues too. But the principle here (less viral load being less virulent or less “poisonous” in a viral infection sense) is a sound one.

The practicalities won’t work the way it is now on a societal level
(giving leftist-rioters a pass,
no “mask” standardization,
people dropping their masks, picking them up and putting them on again, etc. etc.)

.

The ‘dose’ of coronavirus a person gets may determine how sick they get; masks could help​

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Andrea Kane, CNN

Updated 12:25 AM EDT, Sun November 01, 2020

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

(CNN)“The dose makes the poison” is an adage credited to Paracelsus, a Swiss physician-philosopher from the early Renaissance.

Basically, it means that any substance can become toxic if given at a high enough concentration. Even too much water can throw off your electrolytes and be potentially fatal.

Viewing the coronavirus through that lens – that the “dose” of the virus you receive might make the difference between being asymptomatic, getting mildly sick or becoming critically ill – may be helpful when thinking about protection against Covid-19 . . .
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I remember months ago stating that I thought public service announcements should be made showing what types of masks to wear, how to properly wear them and it’d sure be nice if they were provided.

While I’ve seen plenty of blog posts showing how to wear a mask and the proper materials to use, even designs with patterns to make your own,I’ve seen no public service announcements. Perhaps expecting our government to also provide them for free is a bit of a stretch but the costs would be minuscule if compared to treating Covid in the hospital.

I’m still wondering why this hasn’t been done?
 
Pattylt said:
While I’ve seen plenty of blog posts showing how to wear a mask and the proper materials to use, even designs with patterns to make your own,I’ve seen no public service announcements
Click to expand...
It happens here where masks are compulsory. There are signs everywhere. We have even banned certain types of face coverings.
 
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ProVobis . . .
Seems intuitive.
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Yeah. That’s what I thought too.

So I was surprised it drew flack when I mentioned it before on another thread.

Add to that, it has been repeated over and over.
Viral load matters.

Anyway. Thanks for your contribution.
 
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I recall reading about the importance of viral load earlier in the pandemic. I also wonder about the efficacy of washing masks, whether masks should be reused after washing them or just tossed. They are certainly a whole new industry.
 
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meltzerboy2 said:
I recall reading about the importance of viral load earlier in the pandemic. I also wonder about the efficacy of washing masks, whether masks should be reused after washing them or just tossed. They are certainly a whole new industry.
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The reusables can look pretty grubby pretty fast. How they are washed is crucial too, if the aim is sterilization.
 
umamibella said:
The reusables can look pretty grubby pretty fast. How they are washed is crucial too, if the aim is sterilization.
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The recommendations I’ve heard is to just take a bucket or bowl and fill with hot water, a little laundry or dish soap and a good capful of bleach. Soak the masks for at least 10 minutes then rinse thoroughly. Dry in the highest heat of your dryer with no fabric softener sheets.

If your dryer doesn’t have a high heat setting then after drying, iron it for a few minutes on high heat. It’s pretty darn sterile after that.

I made my own with two layers of a tight weave cotton with the ability to put a single layer of coffee filter in between…any more layers and it’s too hard to breathe through. They are very effective and I make several different kinds for family members. Two of my family have very round full cheeks and masks that start out as rectangles won’t stay out of their eyes, even with the wires bent whereas I do best with the rectangular ones and don’t have any problems with fogging my glasses.

My house rule is wear for four hours total time then change. I do a load of them each evening and they’re ready for wearing the next morning. One coffee filter works for four masks and the inexpensive ones work just as well as Mr Coffee filters!

So far, so good. My husband and I are high risk and my future son in law is extremely high risk as he’s a liver transplant on immunosuppressives. We take this seriously!
 
meltzerboy2 said:
I recall reading about the importance of viral load earlier in the pandemic. I also wonder about the efficacy of washing masks, whether masks should be reused after washing them or just tossed. They are certainly a whole new industry.
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While there isn’t double blind research, there is clear science that soap and water kills/removes viruses and germs on your hands.

I’ve also seen evidence that time in the air also degrades a virus on a mask, a couple days between wears makes it safe to reuse, no need to toss. The real value is to catch your cough, to reduce the spread rather than completely contain it.
 
Pattylt said:
I remember months ago stating that I thought public service announcements should be made showing what types of masks to wear, how to properly wear them and it’d sure be nice if they were provided.
Click to expand...
This doesn’t speak to the ‘how to’ aspect, but the Department of Health and Human Services had a plan to distribute masks (650 million in total) directly to every household via the post office, but the White House nixed it. Maybe the educational aspect would have been addressed as part of the distribution.

 
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Wampa said:
This doesn’t speak to the ‘how to’ aspect, but the Department of Health and Human Services had a plan to distribute masks (650 million in total) directly to every household via the post office, but the White House nixed it. Maybe the educational aspect would have been addressed as part of the distribution.
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It was a very bad idea, glad it was nixed.
Since mask production was already maxed out and essential workers struggling to get masks, carpet bombing 650 million masks would have definitely increased the shortage for essential workers.

Instead they should have just distributed a flyer on effective DIY reusable masks.
 
It would be really expensive to wear masks the way they’re supposed to be worn in the hospital.

My family has cloth masks, we wear them all day, then they’re laundered in hot water (with vinegar) and dried on the hot cycle.
 
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