🧵 Parents of teens looking for N95/KN95/KF94 masks that your teens will wear without complaint, I feel your pain. We are 2 drs w/ 3 teens. We obviously believe in high-quality masks, & we’ve struggled to find masks that fit well & are comfy enough for kids to wear all day. 1/x
Let me start by saying we have no relationship with any mask company, no one gave us any free masks, & no one asked us to review or recommend any mask. Our views don’t represent any employers. Tweeting here as parents & your kids may be different. 2/x
My teens (14, 16, 17) are both sexes & pretty average sizes, especially their faces (unlike their mom…I have a small face & can wear some kids’ eyeglass frames). We started trying the masks that we liked or had ourselves. 3/x
For my small face, I have found the Respokare N95 (size M) to be a comfy mask that I can put on & not need to adjust, & it’s got antiviral coating. It was too tight on them. Size L fit them width-wise but was still too long top to bottom, so would be 👍 for a long/wide face. 4/x
The antiviral coating has kind of a vinegar smell. I don’t mind it. It kind of reminds me of salt & vinegar chips. But one of my kids who is sensitive to smells & textures etc found the smell to be a dealbreaker. May not be a good choice if your kid is the same. 5/x
It comes only in light blue & straps go around head.
We also tried the 3M Aura N95 mask, which seems to be avail all over. We bought it directly off the 3M website, but I know many have found it in the paint aisle of HD, hardware stores, etc. It comes only in white.
6/x
It fits all 5 of us well, despite a pretty dramatic range of face sizes, & we all get a good seal, so if you had to go grab N95 masks for a ✈️ or something & hope they fit, it’s a 👍 bet. The nose wire is covered by soft rubber inside, which makes it comfy. Straps go around head.
Our kids have worn it for higher risk things where I was very worried about aerosol, like singing, & it doesn’t muffle voice, but straps are tight. They wear it w/o complaint it for 2-3 hrs, but all agree they would find it tough to wear for a full school day, day after day.
8/x
My kid who hates anything too tight from clothes to masks finds it too tight & will only stay in it for 20-30 mins before insisting on changing it. Many HCWs wear the Aura at work, so it CAN be worn all day, but the efficacy of a 😷 that’s not worn is 0%. Know your kids.
9/x
Since our kids felt those masks were too short/long, tight, or vinegary, we tried the Kimberly-Clark Kimtech N95 pouch respirator 53358. It comes only in white & has straps around head, but they are a soft kind of fabric, not rubber, so they don’t pull hair whatsoever.
10/x
Because they are thin & have a lot of airspace in front of the mouth, they also get less hot/humid & don’t muffle the voice at all. I thought that made them a slam dunk for school. Alas the teens feel they make them look the most ridiculous of any mask we’ve tried. Sigh.
11/x
They’re still extremely comfortable & affordable. My teens agree you could wear it all day & forget it’s on. (Except for people pointing at them.) A good 😷 for a teen who just wants comfort & doesn’t care if they look different. A good 😷 in home isolation for same reason.
12/x
And finally we tried Powecom GB2626-2019 KN95 mask. It comes in white, black, or pink, & has both ear loop & strap around head style. We got the ear loop one, & all agreed it was very comfy on both their faces & ears. The mask is closer to the mouth than any other.
13/x
But they didn’t find it bothersome. No one found it too hot or humid. No one asked if we were done yet. It’s also pretty affordable at ~$1 each, & it has scratch-off w/ a unique code on each bag you check on their website to know it’s legit (KN95 counterfeits are an issue).
14/x
I suspect part of why they like it is that it’s very well-fitted to the face, but not nearly as tight as a true N95 w/ headstrap is designed to be. It’s the only non-N95 mask we tried with them, & the only one with ear loops. It’s possible they’d like any KN95 just as well.
15/x
Nonetheless all are happy with this one. Being less tight, it’s prob less protective than one of the true N95 masks we tried, but I have far greater confidence they’ll keep it on, which is its true test in the real world. One of them liked it enough to give some to friends.
16/x
Lots of these masks are available via the nonprofit @projectn95, where the people are available 365 days per yr & so helpful if you’re having trouble finding a good match for yourself or your family. They’re affordable too, even without buying a truckload.
17/x
We’ve seen others available via the US-based family-run @BonaFideMasks, which began selling 😷 in 2020 at request of a community org. If you are buying KN95 masks, you should know that up to half of these in the US have been found to be counterfeit. I would strongly suggest
18/x
That you buy these from a place w/ a reputation for vetting its products carefully. Read the About Us section of the website. Or buy a brand that includes a scratch off # or QR code on the bag to enable you to verify the KN95 authenticity on the manufacturer’s website.
19/x
This article is helpful to identify reputable sites: scientificamerican.com/article/why-we…. If you buy KN95 masks in a store, ask the manager where they source their products from. If it’s not the manufacturer directly, might be best to steer clear.
20/x
If you’re still with me, on tweet #21, I think, at midnight on a Friday, you get a 🍪. Parents of teens, drop recs for other high-protection masks your kids like. They may not love to #WearAMask, but #schools will NOT succeed during #omicron w/o them.
Finally, we didn’t try any KF94 masks (the South Korean equiv of our N95; KN95 is the Chinese equiv). We’ve heard of KF94 masks w/ same shape as the 3M Aura & adjustable ear loops that many people say offer a great fit & comfort, but never any in stock, eg Bluna Facefit.
22/x
And finally, a surgical mask that you tie & tuck per this CDC demo () w/ a 😎 cloth mask over top is far better than either alone if your teen just won’t do an N95/KN95/KF94. Most important msg: we’re SO much safer w/ #Omicron when we all #MaskUp. 👇
NEW: Prosp study in 225 pts w/ “mild” #COVID19 & future surgery or other procedures. People w/ viral RNA detection in tissue or🩸5.2 times more likely to dev #longCOVID symptoms (OR 5.2, 95% CI 2.6–10.1, p<0·0001). Higher copy #, higher odds. #MedTwitter thelancet.com/journals/lanin…
Months after a positive #COVID19 test, viral RNA was found in 10 diff types of tissue, incl the liver, kidney, stomach, intestine, brain, blood vessel, lung, breast, skin, & thyroid + blood cells, which could explain the wide range of reported #longCovid symptoms. #MedTwitter /2
Growing evidence IMO that #COVID19 viral persistence contributes to many cases of #longCovid, though it’s prob not acting alone. Still learning how genetics, immune response, & reactivation of other viruses in us intersect, producing LC in some people & not others. #MedTwitter /3
I’ve received 4 major media requests in the 2h since #KateMiddleton announced her #cancer diagnosis. I have declined them all. She has not revealed what type or stage of cancer she has, & any dr, including oncologists such as myself, appearing on the news would be speculating. /1
I’ve been asked questions on live broadcasts before that we had agreed were off-limits. I know if I agreed here, I’d be asked to speculate on the type of cancer, type of treatment, how long it might last, what the side effects might be, what her prognosis is. I won’t do it. /2
I won’t do it not only because it’s unprofessional to talk about things you don’t know about—& unless you’re #KateMiddleton’s medical team or you’ve been told by her, you don’t know what you’re talking about—but also because doing so causes concrete harm. /3
Devastating study in NEJM. Prospective study of 257 patients having carotid artery surgery: micro/nanoplastics (MNP) in 58% of atheromas & those w/ MNP present had 4.5x ⬆️ risk of stroke, heart attack, & death at mean of 34 mos follow-up. #MedTwitter nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
Add this to the list of health concerns about micro/nanoplastics (MNP) in food. For example, this recent thread I wrote expressing concern about how we're seeing more young-onset colon cancer. Unfortunately MNP are already in soil, water, foods, etc. This is a big problem.
I hesitate to tweet concerning things without next steps since creating anxiety without an action plan I believe is harmful, but this is important info. In my 🏠 , we avoid cooking/reheating in plastic, replaced cutting boards, & are trying to avoid eating/drinking from plastics.
#MedTwitter, This is an important 🧵 from a bereaved husband’s perspective as a caregiver. I’ve been an oncologist for >20y; all of my patients by definition have a serious illness. So I hadn’t thought much about the power of affirming it. When the #COVID19 #pandemic began… 1/
& we all did more outpatient care via 📱, I had the good fortune of overhearing bits of how my husband (an infectious diseases dr) speaks to his patients. I don’t know them or their diagnoses of course, but I know it’s not all cancer, which everyone agrees is real & serious. /2
Infectious disease drs not only see people w/ things like HIV or hepatitis C, but also poorly understood complications of prior infections incl #MECFS & #LongCovid. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve overheard him say things like “what you’re experiencing is real.” /3
Sen @BernieSanders opens Senate HELP Committee mtg on #LongCovid stating that 16M in the US are currently living w/ #LongCOVID, a syndrome w/ brain fog, memory loss, language problems, fatigue, & more. “Long COVID can affect anyone…It poses a severe threat to #publichealth.”
A former endurance athlete Angela Vasquez shares her story of becoming severely disabled after an otherwise mild #COVID19 infection in 2020. She now requires 12 prescription meds. Notes that people w/ #longCovid may be too ill to navigate the disability system. #HELPLongCovid
@BillCassidy @SenSanders @SenateHELP @LCMoonshot Nicole Heim, describes her once healthy 16y old, a straight A honors student & marching band member, who developed #longCovid after a #COVID19 infection at age 14. She now has mult med issues incl cognitive impairment & is slowly working on a GED from home. #HELPLongCovid
Wading into this water bottle debate as a cancer doctor. There has been a striking increase in #coloncancer in people under age 50. When you see an abrupt change like this by generation, it always raises concern for an environmental cause. #MedTwitter cancer.gov/news-events/ca…
We don’t know why this is happening, but I think it’s logical to ask what may be spending time sitting in the colon, i.e., things we eat or drink. This rise in #coloncancer is occurring in #Millenials & younger #GenX. Look at the birth years & ages in the screenshot. #crcsm /2
Environmental things that can cause #cancer (e.g., smoke -> lung cancer) generally don’t cause cancer right away. People have exposures, & then cancer turns up years later. Many things have changed about our diet & environment over years, but one that gets my attention… /3