Some protection better than none
Re “Dangers of using masks,” Aug. 27):
That letter was by a person in the medical field. Having worked as a biomedical engineer, I was amazed at the conclusions stated ! Doctors have worn masks, attending patients and performing surgeries, for years to prevent cross-contamination of others.
Even non-medical people can see advantages of masks from old news reels and articles about Spanish flu. If, as was stated in that article, there is self-contamination, there would be far more infections in the community as masks are used in construction, painting and factories where masks are not replaced all of the time.
Depending on materials used, there are wider openings between the material fibers than the size of the coronavirus. If studied, it is found that micro fibers of the threads help trap contaminates.
Multiple layers add to this entrapment process. N95 materials are not just cloth but manufactured materials to block micro organisms.
The letter assumed that COVID, TB and other germs are already in your breath, and they would
grow in the mask. Not so obvious in this statement is the fact that these organism grow in the living body far easier than on an inanimate object. The writer stated masks “may or may not help”. If you don’t know if masks help, why not use them? Precautions of any type are better than none at all!
M. Don Hughes
Moses Lake