It may seem unconfusing if you only look at one study. Taken as a whole, and with the limitations of the studies, it's confusing.
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Replying to @BobKerns @diviacaroline
Can you please point me to the confusing studies? Did you see at least one single study that convincingly shows that masks somehow increase the risk of infection?
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Replying to @Plinz @diviacaroline
No, you've confused the point here! That a study showed that is not convincing, but rather, a symptom of the lack of strong and consistent evidence that they are effective. Nobody thinks they make it worse (unless you engage in risky behavior as a result, of course).
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The confusion on the benefits does not extend from positive to negative infinity. But given the conflicting recommendations and results on the spectrum of ineffective to effective, it's hard to escape "confusing".
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Replying to @BobKerns @diviacaroline
That what not what I implied at all. I just have not seen studies that demonstrate convincingly that masks don't reduce infections, and several that seem to show the opposite. So if you say it's confusing, I want to know why.
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Replying to @Plinz @diviacaroline
Here's where you *asked* for studies showing it increased them. You introduced it. Glad we can dispose of it! It's confusing because there are studies, like the one I cited earlier, that suggest they're ineffective. If they were *convincing*, then we wouldn't have confusion!pic.twitter.com/xnhxHlgr8u
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I don't think anybody really thinks they have zero benefit. I am certainly NOT trying to argue that case in any event. But there are a host of questions within that space. Does your typical person wearing a mask reduce his risk of household transmission, for example?
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Or is it swamped by other factors, or do poor usage practices render it moot, etc. For healthcare, how much worse are surgical masks as PPE than N95, and are goggles or a face shield necessary, etc. That's why the conflicting advice. My own opinion is: wear them!
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Replying to @BobKerns
I just don't see that the evidence is somehow not clear or would deviate from common sense. Masks leads to a significant reduction in infections. They are by themselves not perfect (but that was never the claim). Further reduction requires face shields/goggles, helmets etc.
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There is a tradeoff: the more difficult the protection, the higher the cost and the lower the compliance. It may be impractical to give everyone a motorized gas mask. The question is how many health care workers, elderly and rest-of-population you want to save at which cost.
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It's a complex calculation that is also morally not trivial, and it depends on modeling a distribution of possible ground truths. What irks me is that the CDC and WHO do not seem to make such calculations but apparently pull a misinformed opinion out of their asses.
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Replying to @Plinz
I'd really like to see that WHO take you referenced, unless it's the "false sense of security" argument, in which case, don't bother. Seen enough of those over the years. I presume they're doing the calculations and then not bothering to communicate them. Also a problem.
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Replying to @BobKerns
Joscha Bach Retweeted World Health Organization Western Pacific
Joscha Bach added,
2:17World Health Organization Western PacificVerified account @WHOWPROIf you do not have any respiratory symptoms, such as fever, cough, or runny nose, you do not need to wear a medical mask. When used alone, masks can give you a false feeling of protection and can even be a source of infection when not used correctly.
https://bit.ly/2QN3QOp pic.twitter.com/JDQhnowx3p1 reply 0 retweets 1 like - 3 more replies
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