1. They keep your respiratory droplets from
spreading to others!
The CDC outlines three transmission-based precautions to help stop the
spread of various pathogens: contact, droplet, and airborne. A pathogen is the
agent that causes a disease, and different pathogens use different methods to
spread. Surgical masks are a key protective measure in droplet precautions and
airborne precautions. Surgical masks are routinely used in healthcare settings
to prevent the spread of infections such as influenza, pneumonia, and
meningitis. In what the CDC terms “source control”, they outline that the
infected individual should wear a mask to help prevent transmission.
Many viruses and bacteria, such as the ones
previously listed, are spread through respiratory droplets. These respiratory
droplets are generated when a person is coughing, sneezing, or talking. That’s
right, even just by talking! If you are infected, the pathogen can travel
through your respiratory droplets and be transmitted to people around you, or
they can contaminate surfaces. So, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, you
may be an unaware vector of the disease and wearing a mask helps you keep your
droplets to yourself when interacting with others.
2. They protect you from infected individuals!
In regards to the same CDC transmission-based
precautions, specific personal protective equipment can be used to decrease
your chances of contracting various pathogens. When viruses and bacteria spread
by respiratory droplets, those droplets infect you by traveling into your
mouth, nose, and eyes. Wearing a mask properly helps block infectious particles
from finding a home in your mouth and nose. COVID-19, in most cases, is
believed to be spread by respiratory droplets. Thus, wearing a mask can help
reduce your risk of contracting the disease.
Now that we know how face masks protect us, it
is important to note that different masks can offer different levels of
protection. The
American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) is an international standards organization that develops
technical standards for many different fields-including healthcare. They put
face masks through a series of five tests to determine what standards they
meet. These tests are: Bacterial filtration, particle filtration, synthetic blood
splatter, flammability, and breathability. Based on specific criteria, the
masks are sorted into one of three levels after they are tested. Level 1 offers
the lowest level of protection, while level 3 offers the highest. Patriot
Medical Devices offers masks that have
been tested and proven to function at the ASTM 3 standard. Patriot
masks offer the highest level of protection against
particles and fluids, while also being comfortable to wear!
*This article was retrieved from https://patriotmedicaldevices.com/
Stay healthy & Live Each Day to the Fullest!