Recently, new coronaviruses have become popular, and in order to prevent the spread of the virus, masks have also become popular. According to the diagnosis and treatment plan of the new coronavirus pneumonia, the recommended masks are medical surgical masks and medical protective masks (N95 masks), but the masks on the market have many names, including medical masks, nursing masks, disposable masks, etc. Instantly, what kind of mask is recommended by the program? Which one meets the virus protection requirements?
I think we must first understand the deep meaning of our masks: to cut off the transmission of the virus! There are two ways of spreading the new coronavirus, one is contact spread, and the other is droplet spread. Wearing a mask is to cut off the route of droplet spread! In this sense, the best masks can isolate viruses, and the worst masks can at least stop the droplets, which is better than not wearing them!
Of course, if you are at home, the whole family is healthy and there are no cases of infections around. You do n’t need to wear a mask, or if you are at the seaside and there are few people, there is no need to wear a mask to prevent the virus, because the probability of the virus is equal 0. But if there are many people around you, under the current circumstances, wearing a mask is of great significance, I think it is a worry for the country!
Analysis of three common masks
In fact, the masks mentioned in the above diagnosis and treatment plan are mainly worn by medical staff in medical institutions, because they need to come into close contact with infected patients, and wear different masks according to the infectivity of the pathogens infected by the patients and the diagnosis and treatment projects carried out for the patients. In fact, there is another kind of mask called ordinary medical mask. What is the difference between these three masks? Let me introduce
1. Ordinary medical mask
Medical staff usually wear this kind of masks in ordinary outpatient emergency, inpatient treatment or care of general patients. The filtering efficiency of particles and bacteria is lower than that of medical surgical masks and medical protective masks. This kind of mask is not suitable for special diagnosis and treatment operation or special patients. However, because such masks are cheap, easy to wear, and have a wide range of access, they can also prevent the spread of viruses to a certain extent, so they can be used in ordinary environments. Masks are enough.
2. Medical surgical mask
This mask can block particles larger than 4 microns in diameter, and is mainly used to prevent blood, body fluids or secretions from splashing during surgical operations in medical institutions or during invasive procedures. The safety factor of this kind of mask is relatively high, and the blocking ability against particles, bacteria and viruses is also strong. It must meet the requirements of China’s pharmaceutical industry standard YY 0469-2004 “Technical requirements for medical surgical masks”. Medical surgical masks are generally divided into 3 layers. The outer layer has a water blocking effect to prevent droplets from entering the mask; the middle layer has a filtering function to block> 90% of 5μm particles;
3. Medical protective mask
It is the N95 mask that everyone is talking about. This mask must meet the national standard GB 19083-2003 “Technical Requirements for Medical Protective Masks” and has strict size requirements. The N95 mask is mainly composed of a mask face and a tightening band. It has high sealing and protection. It can prevent infection caused by airborne diameter ≤5 microns infection factor or close distance (≤1m) contact with droplet-borne diseases. The particle filtration efficiency of the mask filter material is not less than 95%. This kind of mask is mainly used for the protection of medical personnel in the infectious disease area, virus laboratory personnel, and various types of personnel during the epidemic of infectious diseases.
The above is the difference between the three commonly used masks. In fact, the first mask can still block about 70% of pathogenic microorganisms, so as the general public, you can usually wear the first mask. As for the higher requirements for personal protection, you can also buy the back Two kinds of wear. Finally, some people think that it is better to wear multiple masks at a time to protect them, but it is not necessary. The protection of wearing multiple masks may indeed be better, but it has not increased proportionally, which not only wastes medical resources, but also causes breathlessness.
Tips: How to wear a mask correctly?
Taking ordinary medical masks as an example, for the convenience of wearing, ordinary medical masks generally adopt rubber band ears. The face of the mask has two sides, there are several layers of wrinkles on the face, and there is a hard strip on the side. When wearing it, the stiff side is first on top, because it can be used to pinch the bridge of the nose to ensure the tightness of the mask. Then the folds of the mask must be downward, because if the folds are upwards, bacteria, viruses or dust will tend to stay in the folds.
