geoffrey modest medical blogs

  A     recent Cochrane review assessed     mask effectiveness in preventing the spread of respiratory viruses, though with what seems to be inappropriate extension to SAR-SoV-2    ( https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full : You have the options of viewing the full article (326 pages), the standard article (a measly, indulge in the pun, 305 pages which does not include data and analyses), or the summary (only 5 pages).  This review hit the national press right away (eg see   https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare   , with perhaps the pretty distorted title in the New York Times editorial by Bret Stephens: “The Mask Mandates Did Nothing”   Details:  -- this Cochrane review included 78 RCTs, 6 of which were conducted during the Covid pandemic: 2 from Mexico, one each from Denmark, Bangladesh, England, and No...

  A report by the CDC confirmed that indoor mask use decreased SARS-CoV-2 transmission, with the N95/KN95 outperforming surgical masks ( see  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830622/  ). Details: -- test-negative case-controlled study of randomized California residents receiving SARS-CoV-2 tests between Feb 18 and Dec 1, 2021 -- face mask or respirator use was assessed in participants who were positive for  SARS-CoV-2 vs matched control participants who had negative  SARS-CoV-2 tests and had been in indoor settings (retail stores, restaurants and bars, recreational facilities, public transit, salons, movie theaters, religious services, schools, or museums) in the prior 14 days and had no known contact with anyone with confirmed or suspected  SARS-CoV-2 infection during that time -- 1528 case-participants ( SARS-CoV-2   positive) were compared to 1511 control patients, matched by age group, sex, and state region ; all this from a total of 1...