Orange County - Hey CSULB Students, Don't Bother With the Surgi Masks, They're Useless! - Navel Gazing

Blogs

DA-Cop Sex Romp Breached Ethics, Not Facts Against Rapist

78-Year-Old Arrested for Kicking Cop in the Nuts. Twice!

Finky Gets to the Bottom of What's Stinky in Mission Viejo

Previous: Sheriff Hutchens Memoralized In Song!

Next: Witness: Zodiac Killer Was An Orange County Resident

Hey CSULB Students, Don't Bother With the Surgi Masks, They're Useless!

Wednesday, Apr. 29 2009 @ 4:01PM

By Daffodil J. Altan in Main

After essentially quarantining a CSULB student who has received a "probable positive test" (um, is it or isn't it?) for piggy flu, health officials on the Long Beach campus handed out surgical face masks to students on campus who have "been paranoid," according to a Press Telegram report.

Only problem with that approach is that those masks are basically useless, at least according to this report by health nut Mark Adams, and another report today by the BBC. Even the CDC doesn't know if they're of any use, stating on its website: "Very little is known about the benefits of wearing facemasks and respirators to help control the spread of pandemic flu." People are better off, the website says, staying home and avoiding big crowds. As of this moment, the CDC is about as useless as those masks.

Surgical masks used (obviously) during surgery, are intended to keep a surgeon's spit and other liquid particles from dropping into a patient's open wound. They're not intended to protect the surgeon from that patient's -- or anyone's -- cough or sneeze or any other invisible airborne excretion (which can fly in easily through the wide pockets on the sides of the masks). Even the fancier N95 mask, which has higher filtration capabilities for tiny air particles is questionable, at best, as far as prevention goes. The only real protection, according to Adams, are air tight gas masks, which are pricier, and make the piggy flu seem a whole hell of a lot scarier than the cutesy masks.

Tags: cough, mask, N95, pandemic, surgical mask, swine flu, transmission

8 Comment(s) / Post a Comment

Cesar says:

It figures ignorant and pendejo Long Beach State students, prob even their famed nursery students, are the ones wearing these masks. Read up on the CDC guidelines you bunch of idiotas. Better yet, wear those scary masks seen in that cool Twilight Zone episode. I am refering to the masks that turned those greedy kids into Mister and Miss Piggys look-a-likes.
Pendejo 49ers...

Go Fullerton! (aka Cal State Disneyland, Fullerton State, etc)..

Posted on Wednesday, Apr. 29 2009 @ 9:29PM

Duke Rescola says:

Hey D.J. No masks in the Daily Forty-Niner. We're not all THAT dumb.

Posted on Thursday, Apr. 30 2009 @ 4:39AM

DanGarion says:

I laugh when I see people wearing them that aren't sick. They however can be useful for those that are sick to try and prevent their spit from infecting others, although it doesn't stop the particles in their breath.

Posted on Thursday, Apr. 30 2009 @ 9:09AM

Darla says:

First of, the media has got the whole Swine Flu out of hand. It seems to be an exaggeration of a Flu. Yes it's a virus, however from history, it's an average Flu that lasts 7 days and for death cases there's only been 1 which was in 2004.

Posted on Thursday, Apr. 30 2009 @ 9:28AM

Daffodil says:

Cesar: This isn't about football game rallies! If anyone's dumb, it's the administration for continuing to push the myth that these things will protect you. Although to be fair, they may be of some use if you're in big crowds, where spit and other fluids have a better chance of landing on your face.

Duke: It's not you guys, I know! It's obviously a case of a frantic administration following the frantic WHO's suit.

Dan: Right, good point. But the mass mask handouts around the globe are sending the wrong message: that these rinky dink things are enough to protect you!

Darla: Agreed. The surgical mask fever will soon be more out of control than the actual flu!

Posted on Thursday, Apr. 30 2009 @ 9:55AM

ohnomrbill says:

Reminds me of the duct tape and plastic that DHS recommended shortly after 9-11. Yeah, sure....that'll keep us safe.

Posted on Thursday, Apr. 30 2009 @ 2:42PM

Sue says:

www.doihaveswineflu.org
www.doihavepigflu.com

Posted on Thursday, Apr. 30 2009 @ 2:55PM

Diane-In-Boise says:

Why do all you people find it so necessary not to take this seriously?

The H1N1 virus is one that there is no treatment for unlike the flu's you refer to above.

Now why is it so difficult for you to not disparage ANY type of barriers that might help people not to get this (other than staying home of course...and uh...people just can't do that as a whole...I'm sure you guys get that, right??).

So the f what if the masks doesn't totally protect you??!! It's better than nothing. And hell, you guys might look better with it on.

Posted on Monday, May. 4 2009 @ 11:47AM