Thread by @NoUserName36

We begin this journey with a book written in 1919 titled: "Influenza; a study of measures for the control of the epidemic"

This book was written in regard to the "Spanish flu epidemic" of 1918.
Link to book:

books.google.com/books?id=R_o1A…

As we can see, starting on page 12 this book addresses the mask mandates put in place in major cities at the time and compared their effect to cities with no such mandate. The conclusion was that masks where ineffective.

To the best if my knowledge not much else was done in the way of testing masks in regard to viral transmission during the 30's -70's so any articles from this time would be appreciated and added to the thread.

Moving on now to 1981 we have a study on the efficacy of masks in regard to the operating theater(if masks dont work then why do doctors wear them?)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

This study found that not only do masks not prevent infections during surgical operations when worn by surgeons, but that masks may infact INCREASE the risk of infection:

This conclusion was reinforced by a later study done in 1991 that found similar results:

link.springer.com/article/10.100…

These findings where further supported by yet another article from 1991 titled:
"Surgical face masks in modern operating rooms-a costly and unnecessary ritual?"

journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/0195-6…

In fact this notion that "healthcare workers wear masks so they MUST work" is directly contradicted by a court decision regarding the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) regarding mandatory masks for those who wouldn't get the flu shot in 2018
ona.org/news-posts/ona…

In 2009 a study on masks concluded that "Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds."
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19216002/

This was followed up by a meta analyses of 17 different studies in 2011 that concluded "None of the studies we reviewed established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

In June 2015 a study titled: " Unmasking the surgeons: the evidence base behind the use of facemasks in surgery" was unable to find any evidence to support the use of masks in theater(again):
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

In the same year(2015) another study tested various types of masks and found cloth masks to be worse than other types of masks for viral transmission(did NOT have a maskless control group):
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Moving into 2016 we have a VERY interesting article titled: "Why Face Masks Don’t Work: A Revealing Review". This article was recently retracted due to political pressure as you can see at its original link:
oralhealthgroup.com/features/face-…

Thankfully the internet is FOREVER giving tyrannical governments limited ability to hide their obvious censorship of science to conform it to a particular narrative. Here is an archived version of the original article: archive.is/mK9db

In 2017 a Meta-analysis found that N95 masks do not provide protection against viral and influenza like infections.
academic.oup.com/cid/article/65…

In 2019 a study found that "there was no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza among health care personnel with the use of N95 respirators vs medical masks "
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

We are now reaching the point of what science has to say for 2020. On March 1st of this year the surgeon general says "masks are NOT effective" :
marketwatch.com/story/surgeon-…

Two days later, on march 3rd, another meta analyses found "Compared to no masks there was no reduction of influenza-like illness"

medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

On April 1st of 2020 a commentary titled: "Masks-for-all for COVID-19 not based on sound data" was posted giving a detailed summary of the science up to that point with numerous reference links to various studies:
cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspecti…

Another study released on April 3rd of 2020 found that: "there were no significant differences between detection of virus with or without face masks, both in respiratory droplets and in aerosols "

nature.com/articles/s4159…

Three days later(april 6th) found that " at BEST facemasks are only slighty protective and that The evidence is not sufficiently strong to support widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against COVID-19.

medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

On may 5th the CDC once again reconfirmed what science had been saying up until this point. Using evidence from 14 RCT's they found: "measures did not support a substantial effect on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza".

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26…

In June of 2020 an article titled: "Do facemasks protect against COVID‐19?" done by the NCBI found that "here is no good evidence that facemasks protect the public against infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID‐19"
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

This study also went further in stating that: "the questionable benefits arguably do not justify health‐care staff wearing surgical masks when treating low‐risk patients and may impede the normal caring relationship .... We counsel against such practice, at least at present."

We are now reaching the point in the story where "Science" changes its mind. Coincidentally this is also the same time mask became political as politicians decided to see how far they could push their power in the face of the publics new found fears.

The following is a great article that again summarizes the scientific findings on masks in regard to viral transmission from JULY 14th. This article links an additional 42 separate studies proving its points:
technocracy.news/masks-are-neit…

"So what if masks dont work, its not going to hurt you to wear one" you say? Another common argument. i will be ending this thread by addressing this statement and statements like it with a few more studies.

in an article titled: "Effect of a surgical mask on six minute walking distance" they concluded that: "Wearing a surgical mask modifies significantly and clinically dyspnea without influencing walked distance."

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29395560/

we see similair results in this article which concluded: "Exercising with facemasks may reduce available Oxygen and increase air trapping preventing substantial carbon dioxide exchange......

......The hypercapnic hypoxia may potentially increase acidic environment, cardiac overload, anaerobic metabolism and renal overload, which may substantially aggravate the underlying pathology of established chronic diseases":
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32590322/

several other studies also came to similar conclusions as seen here:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15340662/

here:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26579222/

and here:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31159777/

while finally a study done in 2018 titled : "Surgical masks as source of bacterial contamination during operative procedures" found "strong evidence for the identification that SMs as source of bacterial contamination during operative procedures......

...... which should be a cause for alarm and attention in the prevention of surgical site infection in clinical practice.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30035033/

In conclusion, mask mandates for "health and safteyness" are not only anti-science nonsense pushed by known liars, they are highly likely to be negatively impacting your HEALTH(by design).