Face Masks and Bacterial Dispersion Toward the Periocular Area.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Raevis JJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7801188 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:COVID-19 has restricted singing in communal worship. We sought to understand variations in droplet transmission and the impact of wearing face masks. Using rapid laser planar imaging, we measured droplets while participants exhaled, said 'hello' or 'snake', sang a note or 'Happy Birthday', with and without surgical face masks. We measured mean velocity magnitude (MVM), time averaged droplet number (TADN) and maximum droplet number (MDN). Multilevel regression models were used. In 20 participants, sound intensity was 71 dB for speaking and 85 dB for singing (p < 0.001). MVM was similar for all tasks with no clear hierarchy between vocal tasks or people and > 85% reduction wearing face masks. Droplet transmission varied widely, particularly for singing. Masks decreased TADN by 99% (p < 0.001) and MDN by 98% (p < 0.001) for singing and 86-97% for other tasks. Masks reduced variance by up to 48%. When wearing a mask, neither singing task transmitted more droplets than exhaling. In conclusion, wide variation exists for droplet production. This significantly reduced when wearing face masks. Singing during religious worship wearing a face mask appears as safe as exhaling or talking. This has implications for UK public health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Project description:During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks has become increasingly recommended and even mandatory in community settings. To evaluate the risk of bacterial cross-contamination, this study analyzed the bacterial bioburden of disposable surgical masks and homemade cotton masks, and surveyed the habits and face mask preferences of the Flemish population. Using culture approaches and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we analyzed the microbial community on surgical and/or cotton face masks of 13 healthy volunteers after 4 h of wearing. Cotton and surgical masks contained on average 1.46 × 105 CFU/mask and 1.32 × 104 CFU/mask, respectively. Bacillus, Staphylococcus, and Acinetobacter spp. were mostly cultured from the masks and 43% of these isolates were resistant to ampicillin or erythromycin. Microbial profiling demonstrated a consistent difference between mask types. Cotton masks mainly contained Roseomonas, Paracoccus, and Enhydrobacter taxa and surgical masks Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. After 4 h of mask wearing, the microbiome of the anterior nares and the cheek showed a trend toward an altered beta-diversity. According to dedicated questions in the large-scale Corona survey of the University of Antwerp with almost 25,000 participants, only 21% of responders reported to clean their cotton face mask daily. Laboratory results indicated that the best mask cleaning methods were boiling at 100°C, washing at 60°C with detergent or ironing with a steam iron. Taken together, this study suggests that a considerable number of bacteria, including pathobionts and antibiotic resistant bacteria, accumulate on surgical and even more on cotton face masks after use. Based on our results, face masks should be properly disposed of or sterilized after intensive use. Clear guidelines for the general population are crucial to reduce the bacteria-related biosafety risk of face masks, and measures such as physical distancing and increased ventilation should not be neglected when promoting face mask use.
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Project description:Cotton and surgical face masks in community settings: bacterial contamination and face mask hygiene
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Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has led people to wear face masks daily in public. Although the effectiveness of face masks against viral transmission has been extensively studied, there have been few reports on potential hygiene issues due to bacteria and fungi attached to the face masks. We aimed to (1) quantify and identify the bacteria and fungi attaching to the masks, and (2) investigate whether the mask-attached microbes could be associated with the types and usage of the masks and individual lifestyles. We surveyed 109 volunteers on their mask usage and lifestyles, and cultured bacteria and fungi from either the face-side or outer-side of their masks. The bacterial colony numbers were greater on the face-side than the outer-side; the fungal colony numbers were fewer on the face-side than the outer-side. A longer mask usage significantly increased the fungal colony numbers but not the bacterial colony numbers. Although most identified microbes were non-pathogenic in humans; Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Cladosporium, we found several pathogenic microbes; Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Aspergillus, and Microsporum. We also found no associations of mask-attached microbes with the transportation methods or gargling. We propose that immunocompromised people should avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection.
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Project description:Mask wearing has been required in various settings since the outbreak of COVID-19, and research has shown that identity judgements are difficult for faces wearing masks. To date, however, the majority of experiments on face identification with masked faces tested humans and computer algorithms using images with superimposed masks rather than images of people wearing real face coverings. In three experiments we test humans (control participants and super-recognisers) and algorithms with images showing different types of face coverings. In all experiments we tested matching concealed or unconcealed faces to an unconcealed reference image, and we found a consistent decrease in face matching accuracy with masked compared to unconcealed faces. In Experiment 1, typical human observers were most accurate at face matching with unconcealed images, and poorer for three different types of superimposed mask conditions. In Experiment 2, we tested both typical observers and super-recognisers with superimposed and real face masks, and found that performance was poorer for real compared to superimposed masks. The same pattern was observed in Experiment 3 with algorithms. Our results highlight the importance of testing both humans and algorithms with real face masks, as using only superimposed masks may underestimate their detrimental effect on face identification.
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Project description:PurposeWe sought to investigate bacterial dispersion with patient face mask use during simulated intravitreal injections.DesignProspective cross-sectional study.MethodsFifteen healthy subjects were recruited for this single-center study. Each participant was instructed not to speak for 2 minutes, simulating a "no-talking" policy, while in an ophthalmic examination chair with an blood agar plate secured to the forehead and wearing various face masks (no mask, loose fitting surgical mask, tight-fitting surgical mask without tape, tight-fitting surgical mask with adhesive tape securing the superior portion of the mask, N95 mask, and cloth mask). Each scenario was then repeated while reading a 2-minute script, simulating a talking patient. The primary outcome measures were the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) and microbial species.ResultsDuring the "no-talking" scenario, subjects wearing a tight-fitting surgical mask with tape developed fewer CFUs compared with subjects wearing the same mask without tape (difference 0.93 CFUs [95% confidence interval 0.32-1.55]; P = .003). During the speech scenarios, subjects wearing a tight-fitting surgical mask with tape had significantly fewer CFUs compared with subjects without a face mask (difference 1.07 CFUs; P = .001), subjects with a loose face mask (difference 0.67 CFUs; P = .034), and subjects with a tight face mask without tape (difference 1.13 CFUs; P < .001). There was no difference between those with a tight-fitting surgical mask with tape and an N95 mask in the "no-talking" (P > .99) and "speech" (P = .831) scenarios. No oral flora were isolated in "no-talking" scenarios but were isolated in 8 of 75 (11%) cultures in speech scenarios (P = .02).ConclusionThe addition of tape to the superior portion of a patient's face mask reduced bacterial dispersion during simulated intravitreal injections and had no difference in bacterial dispersion compared with wearing N95 masks.
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Project description:With the COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of face masks covering mouth and nose has become ubiquitous all around the world. This study investigates the impact of typical face masks on voice radiation. To analyze the transmission loss caused by masks and the influence of masks on directivity, this study measured the full-spherical voice directivity of a dummy head with a mouth simulator covered with six masks of different types, i.e., medical masks, filtering facepiece respirator masks, and cloth face coverings. The results show a significant frequency-dependent transmission loss, which varies depending on the mask, especially above 2 kHz. Furthermore, the two facepiece respirator masks also significantly affect speech directivity, as determined by the directivity index (DI). Compared to the measurements without a mask, the DI deviates by up to 7 dB at frequencies above 3 kHz. For all other masks, the deviations are below 2 dB in all third-octave frequency bands.
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Project description:Because asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 produce respiratory droplets that can remain suspended in air for several hours, social distancing may not be a reliable physical barrier to transmission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, some governments were reluctant to mandate public mask use out of concern this would worsen shortages of respirators for healthcare workers. Cloth masks with a filtering effectiveness of 70-90% can be made from widely available materials, and are a better option than respirators for the public. Countries could rapidly implement Effective Fiber Mask Programs (EFMPs) to use local resources to mass produce effective and affordable cloth masks, and to engage the public in their correct use. EFMPs could be a cost-effective measure to ease isolation while limiting new infections during pandemics. EFMPs could also protect healthcare workers by increasing the supply of respirators for their use, reducing their risk of acquiring the illness from their communities, and by reducing the number of patients they must treat.
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Project description:Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, demand for cloth face masks containing
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Project description:Face masks slow exhaled air flow and sequester exhaled particles. There are many types of face masks on the market today, each having widely varying fits, filtering, and air redirection characteristics. While particle filtration and flow resistance from masks has been well studied, their effects on speech air flow has not. We built a schlieren system and recorded speech air flow with 14 different face masks, comparing it to mask-less speech. All of the face masks reduced air flow from speech, but some allowed air flow features to reach further than 40 cm from a speaker's lips and nose within a few seconds, and all the face masks allowed some air to escape above the nose. Evidence from available literature shows that distancing and ventilation in higher-risk indoor environment provide more benefit than wearing a face mask. Our own research shows all the masks we tested provide some additional benefit of restricting air flow from a speaker. However, well-fitted mask specifically designed for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease reduce air flow the most. Future research will study the effects of face masks on speech communication in order to facilitate cost/benefit analysis of mask usage in various environments.
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