I have a couple of questions!
1) How much more effective are filtered masks versus the cotton masks? Is there a huge difference or do filtered masks have the same low effectiveness as cotton masks?
2) Once a vaccine comes out for COVID-19, do you think that schools will make it mandatory for children to have the shot in order to enroll in school?
1. It depends on the "filter". Masks differ in their filtering capacities. N95 masks have filters that can exclude 95% of particles. HEPA filters could exclude something like SARS-CoV-2 but that filter would have to surround all of the air we breathe. Cotton masks are nothing close to HEPA filters. The filtering ability of cotton masks is minimal. Filtering depends on the actual pore size of the fibers and what is called electrostatic attraction-- is the particle able to be trapped by charges within the material of the mask. Cotton masks have large pores and low electrostatic attraction. But, with that said, wearing a mask is not necessarily bad. Think about the behavioral changes that happen when you wear a mask. You are reminded that you should stay away from someone; you are constantly thinking about being infectious or someone else infecting you. Sometimes just having a physical thing such as a mask reminds you to be cautious.
2. Hard to say regarding compulsory vaccinations. There is a real problem with vaccines. If you don't have any experience with the disease that the vaccine could prevent, then the disease is no longer a problem. Right?! No, wrong. The disease is no longer seen because the vaccine has prevented the disease. Prevention is the best way to stop infectious diseases but if the disease is prevented from occurring in a population, it seems like the disease is no longer a problem. If there is a vaccine for the virus SARS-CoV-2, it would hopefully prevent immunized people from progressing to the disease of COVID-19 (the vaccine is not against the disease but against the virus). We will talk about herd immunity in this course. Should schools make it mandatory for children to be immunized against SARS-CoV-2? Children are incredible carriers and transmitters of viruses. Kids don't wash hands, cough without thinking, touch everything and put everything in their lovely mouths. But they have nice, developing and robust immune systems. In fact, all of their infections help them to develop their immune system. Sorry that this answer is so long. Bottom line: yes. Just consider what has happened because parents do not want to immunize their children against measles. It is called a measles epidemic and is hitting neighborhoods and countries with a vengeance. Measles is not just a simple rash; measles can kill quickly and can kill 10 years after the initial rash. Even more disturbing, measles makes you more susceptible to other infectious diseases for about 2 years after the initial rash. We don't know what SARS-CoV-2 can do after the initial infection.
