So, do flu masks really work?

"Let me try and answer a couple of questions a lot of people will be asking themselves fairly soon."

• Is there any proof that masks actually help protect you from the flu?
  
  
• What kind of mask should I get?
  

The answer to the first question is in the affirmative. There has been a study conducted in Australia during the winters of 2006 – 2007. You can go to the website and check it out in its entirety (this will cost you some money for the abstract). In brief, the study was conducted on 286 adults most of whom had kids in 143 households. They were broken up into three groups; one that got to wear surgical masks, one that wore so-called P2 masks that are specially designed to filter water droplets from the air and one group that wore nothing and therefore acted as a control group. All of the groups had one thing in common and that was children who were sick with a respiratory illness. The two groups that wore masks were instructed on how to properly wear them and were asked to do so when in the presence of their kids. After just one week, researchers found that the group that wore no masks were four times more likely to catch either a cold or the flu. Another interesting thing was that the two groups that wore masks appeared to be equally spared.

This brings me to the answer of the second question as to what type of mask you should consider purchasing. The surgical mask is made of paper and is the least expensive. You can find them in most pharmacies. The other masks like the ones labeled as NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) N95  and which are often made from a combination of cloth and paper and which have gotten a lot of press… are now priced all over the board. They can be found on the internet (watch out for price gouging). My bottom line is you may want to seek a cheap surgical mask solution and here’s why.

In order to achieve the promised 80% reduction in your chances of getting the flu, you will need to investigate practices like ‘self quarantine’. Also, it would pay to; 1) have a heightened awareness of those around you, 2) stay away from crowds as much as possible, 3) wash your hands often and well, 4) cough into your arm and 5) wear your mask in a proper fashion whenever you are around sick people.

Now for the bad news…the flu may hang around in you locale for a couple of years! If that’s the case, you will be going through quite a few masks! (This fact alone may explain why it’s been tempting for some to hold ‘flu parties’ where they attempt to get sick from someone with the flu). Once you’re over it, you’ll be pretty much immune to that particular strain. (If your luck is really bad, like mine, you might get the regular flu strain and therefore catch it twice). Bummer.

In a future blog I’ll cover who’s really at risk and why.