A Health column to answer readers’ doubts about Covid. A way to examine news and information that sometimes turn out to be hoaxes. If you have any questions to ask the editorial staff, write to: [email protected]
For the Italians they have been the subject of comparison since the first months of the epidemic. “These masks are they useful or not? Who should put them, sick, healthy or both? “, We wondered threatened by a new virus. Not to mention the initial difficulties in finding them, with pharmacies being stormed, and the dualism ‘surgical versus FFP2’, responsible for weeks debates and quarrels, from talk shows to queues in front of supermarkets. After having proved to be a fundamental protective device, they have even become accessories. Some have personalized them, with emoticons and acronyms, those who bought them designer labels. As if to exorcise them. the fear of contagion with creativity and feeling fashionable The arrival of vaccines has raised the question again: do they still have to be worn?
Mask even after the vaccine
It is not true that after vaccination it will be possible to avoid wearing a mask and meet people at large. As also reported by theHigher Institute of Health, vaccination against Covid is effective (this is demonstrated by the comparison between those who did not undergo the procedure and those who received it) but it does not protect 100% of individuals: the data show that a complete vaccination cycle protects 88% of cases from infection, 94% from hospitalization, 97% from intensive care and 96% from a fatal outcome of the disease. It is therefore possible to find a limited number of infections, hospital accesses, admissions to intensive care units and deaths even among vaccinated subjects.
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For this reason the mask must still be worn. Limit exposure to Sars-Cov-2, especially in public places: the more the virus circulates, the greater the likelihood that it will be spread to subjects at risk of severe disease (even if vaccinated) and that new variants will appear, more transmissible and towards which vaccination campaigns may be less effective. Without forgetting the other prevention and protection practices foreseen today, such as physical distancing and washing your hands often and carefully.
We need one
Furthermore, it is false to argue that with more overlapping masks, one can better defend against Covid. As well as claiming that surgical ones cause carbon dioxide intoxication and reduction of oxygen in the blood. The Sip (Italian Society of Pediatrics): “The amount of their carbon dioxide breathed by a healthy child wearing the surgical mask is almost imperceptible.” And he added: “Healthy children who wear the surgical mask for several hours a day do not risk oxygen starvation or death from hypoxia.”
Sources: Ministry of Health, Higher Institute of Health, Italian Society of Pediatrics
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