Doctor analyzes three common face masks

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 there are many names on the market, including medical masks, nursing masks, disposable masks, etc. Is the mask recommended by the program? Which one meets the virus protection requirements?

The meaning of wearing a mask

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 0. But if there are many people around you, under this environment, it is still necessary to wear a mask.

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 suitable for wearing 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 mask is relatively high, and it has a strong blocking ability against particles, bacteria and viruses. 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

This is the N95 mask that everyone is talking about. This mask needs to meet the standard GB 19083-2003 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.