Cochrane has published an intervention review of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses
Politicians are telling us that "we know masks work" and that we could "defeat" COVID if we only complied - but this shows NO EVIDENCE OF THAT.
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Politicians are telling us that "we know masks work" and that we could "defeat" COVID if we only complied - but this shows NO EVIDENCE OF THAT.
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"Moderate certainty evidence that wearing a mask probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of [flu] compared to not wearing a mask... Harms were rarely measured and poorly reported."
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Quarantine led to fewer infections at work but more infections in households.
No RCTs on eye protection, gowns and gloves, or screening at entry ports.
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No RCTs on eye protection, gowns and gloves, or screening at entry ports.
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"The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low compliance with the interventions during the studies hamper drawing firm conclusions and generalising the findings to the current COVID-19 pandemic."
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"There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks... The pooled results of randomised trials did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks during seasonal influenza."
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Key messages:
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These interventions may work, but the lack of evidence for that means they should be voluntary recommendations and not mandates. We need to demand more scrutiny of these mandates.
You can find the study abstract and summary here: cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.10…
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You can find the study abstract and summary here: cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.10…
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