# 3939
A recent study of the efficacy of N95 masks vs Surgical masks conducted by an Australian researcher in China has been abruptly retracted according to an announcement at the IDSA meeting in Philadelphia on Saturday.
This from WebMD.
Swine Flu Study on N95 Masks Retracted
from WebMD — a health information Web site for patients
Charlene Laino
November 2, 2009 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — N95 masks may be no better than ordinary disposable surgical masks at preventing the flu, after all.
The same researchers who reported in September that only N95 masks offer significant protection against flu now say a reanalysis of their data shows that just isn't true.
Holly Seale, PhD, of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, presented the updated results on Saturday at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Neil Fishman, MD, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, says many researchers had been critical of the original findings.
The IOM (Institute of Medicine) recently came out with their analysis and they came down decidedly on the side of N95 respirators instead of surgical masks.
The complete 68 page IOM report can be downloaded by clicking the graphic below. It is free, although you’ll be asked for your email address.
Roughly a month ago, a randomized trial out of Canada appeared in JAMA showing that surgical masks are as effective as N95s in protecting HCWs (see JAMA: Surgical Masks vs N95 Respirators).
All of this leaves HCWs (Health Care Workers) wondering exactly what the true level of protection is from these different types of masks, and finding no definitive answer.
