https://doi.org/10.5812/archcid.103100

The Equal Danger of Improper Use of Face Mask and Use of Improper Mask

authors:

avatar Reza Aminnejad ORCID 1 , 2 , * , avatar Ahmad Hormati ORCID 3 , 4 , **

Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Gastroenterology and Hepatology Disease Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran
Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Corresponding Authors:
Archives of Clinical Infectious Diseases: Vol.15, issue 3; e103100
published online: June 9, 2020
article type: Letter
received: March 30, 2020
accepted: May 10, 2020

how to cite: Aminnejad R, Hormati A. The Equal Danger of Improper Use of Face Mask and Use of Improper Mask. Arch Clin Infect Dis. 2020;15(3):e103100. https://doi.org/10.5812/archcid.103100.

Dear editor,

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently become a multidimensional crisis (1). In Iran, the first cases of COVID-19 were documented on 19 February 2020 (2). Although there is no definitive treatment for this newly-developed viral infection, there are multiple non pharmaceutical preventive measures for the respiratory infection control (3). Different communities may have different recommendations on the use of face mask use (4). One of the important strategies to slow down the spread of infection is identifying super spreading events (SSEs). What SSEs are in any community depends on multiple factors. Identifying and interrupting these events are crucial in the infection control (5). Today, people use a face mask to avoid the COVID-19 virus. Wearing a face mask is one of the many tips encouraged by the social media every day. However, due to the limitation of resources for proper face masks, many people have resorted to the use of non-standard masks (better called Respiratory Etiquettes), which are often handmade and inefficient (6). They these non-standard masks while walking confidently on the streets and doing their daily social activities while they are unaware that the masks they use will only protect them against dust and not the virus. Not only can these masks not prevent the virus from entering the respiratory system, but also they provide false confidence, exposing people to infected environments and increasing the chance of infection. In other word, the improper use of face mask could increase the risk of infection as much as the use of improper masks.

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