# 730
The message was pretty simple. The CDC today, in their interim guidance on masks for the general public during a pandemic, gave it a limited recommendation. To wit:
- Whenever possible, rather than relying on the use of facemasks or respirators, close contact3 and crowded conditions should be avoided during an influenza pandemic.
- Facemasks should be considered for use by individuals who enter crowded settings, both to protect their nose and mouth from other people's coughs and to reduce the wearers' likelihood of coughing on others. The time spent in crowded settings should be as short as possible.
- Respirators should be considered for use by individuals for whom close contact with an infectious person is unavoidable. This can include selected individuals who must take care of a sick person (e.g., family member with a respiratory infection) at home.
- Facemasks and respirators should be used in combination with other preventive measures, such as hand hygiene and social distancing, to help reduce the risk for influenza infection during a pandemic. This interim guidance will be updated as new information becomes available.
- The lack of clear scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of facemasks and respirators in protecting against influenza poses a challenge to proposing interim guidance on the use of these devices during a pandemic.
Yet, the headlines screaming across the wire services in the past hour paint a slightly different picture.
Would face masks help during super-flu? Scientists skeptical
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota 18:11
Face masks may not protect from super-flu
CTV.ca 17:44
Don't count on masks to protect in flu pandemic
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 17:35
Yes, it is true, wearing a mask is no guarantee that you won't become infected. I don't recall anyone saying that it was. It may help reduce the chances of becoming infected. That's why doctors and nurses wear them.
Frankly, I don't expect any guarantee's during a pandemic. I'll settle for an edge, if I can get one.
Despite the message that yes, people might want to consider wearing masks in a high risk environment, apparently the editors in newsrooms only heard that they weren't a 100% guarantee against infection. And that's the headline they went with.
Now perhaps a headline such as . . .
Masks May Be Of Some Benefit In A Pandemic
. . . won't sell newspapers. I don't know. But the message I read into the CDC's announcement is that they feel they may be of some value in a pandemic.
Of course, anyone scanning the headlines wouldn't know that, would they?
