How masks and respirators affect immunity and oxygen levels in the blood

From February 2, 2021 in the USA the law came into forcerequiring travelers to wear masks when using all modes of transport: airplanes, trains, buses and taxis. But many worry that it is difficult to breathe while wearing masks and that they do not receive enough oxygen because of them. Let's take a look at this issue. Research has shown that wearing a mask is one of the most effective methods to slow the spread of the coronavirus. CNBC.

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However, mask myths flood social networks: people worry that wearing masks will lower oxygen levels or lead to carbon dioxide poisoning. Others fear that they will develop bacterial infections due to sweat-covered wet masks, or that the immune system will decrease in resistance.

Health workers tried to dispel these misconceptions on social networks. A doctor from South Carolina challenged the idea that "oxygen levels drop sharply when wearing a mask." Dr. Megan Hall checked her oxygen saturation and heart rate with a pulse oximeter in four situations, 5 minutes at a time: no mask, surgical mask, N95 respirator mask, N95 mask and surgical mask.

“In neither scenario is there a significant change in oxygen saturation (or heart rate). Although it may be uncomfortable for some, you can still breathe,” she shared on Facebook.

Exposing Myths

Wearing a mask remains a safe and effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19. Masks work by filtering and suppressing air particles.

If someone is infected but has no symptoms, during breathing, pathogenic particles from the mouth, nose, and back of the throat go outside and spread within about 6 feet (1,8 meters). The mask prevents the free flow of some particles and pushes part of the air down rather than forward.

“Normal, healthy people can do some pretty vigorous things wearing the kind of masks that we talk about in the context of COVID prevention,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “If they were harmful, they would not be recommended by the CDC or state or local health departments.”

Dr. Liam Sullivan, an infectious disease specialist at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said that if the masks were dangerous, there would be much more cases of nurses and doctors in the operating room.

“I don’t see them dropping dead from not enough oxygen or too much carbon dioxide,” he said.

Kirsten Köhler, associate professor of environmental health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, agreed with him.

“Scientific studies show that there are no really important changes in CO2 levels or oxygen levels even from wearing surgical masks. And fabric masks allow gases to pass through better,” she explained. - It doesn't bother me at all. It's more likely that people feel hot when they're wearing a mask, so they might just feel overheated."

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Schaffner suspects that people are worried about wearing masks because it is difficult to breathe.

“If they wear their masks correctly, it actually makes breathing a little more difficult. But this simply means that the mask acts as a filter, Schaffner said. “If you have to breathe in and out of the filter, it takes a little more work.”

Some say they cannot wear a mask because of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, although experts suspect that many with impaired lung function, on the contrary, are more likely to wear masks.

“The vast majority of people with true lung disease will wear a mask because they know that if they are exposed to this virus, they have a very high risk of serious complications,” Sullivan said. “Yeah, sometimes when they have a mask on it can be a little difficult (to breathe).”

Although in warm weather the mask may become wet from sweat, it should not cause bacterial infections.

“There is no evidence of this,” Schaffner emphasized. — In the hot, humid air of summer, the mask can become wet and nasty. If yours is fabric, wash it. And a new surgical mask should be used.”

Koehler recommends putting wet cloth masks in paper bags so they dry and wash them every day before use or wear a fresh, disposable one.

Concerning whether masks can compromise the immune system, Schaffner said: "This is a fiction."

Sullivan said that the immune system works at the expense of immune memory, which occurs when the body encounters a bacterium or virus and responds to them. But masks do not interfere with this process.

“I can pretty much guarantee you that wearing a mask intermittently throughout the day, or even all day, will not weaken your immune system,” he assured.

The real reason many people don’t want to wear masks

The most common reason people don't want to wear a mask is psychological. And experts understand this. Masks are uncomfortable.

“I won’t deny it: it can be inconvenient,” Sullivan confirmed.

Koehler said that is why experts are the first to recommend social distance and hand washing.

“We classify masks as a category of equipment that we call personal protective equipment, and the mask is the last one on the list. After all, most of us now admit that it is really inconvenient,” she said.

On the subject: In Florida, a buyer who did not want to wear a mask had a fight with a Walmart employee

People in Western countries are simply not used to wearing them.

“This is clearly not a social norm,” Schaffner said.

To some extent this has become a political issue, which is why some people are less likely to wear them. But experts emphasize that the virus is not concerned with politics.

“The coronavirus happily infects everyone,” Schaffner said.

Sullivan agrees.

“The virus doesn’t care about culture wars and doesn’t care about your freedom,” he said. “Wearing a mask means being human, caring for your fellow humans and respecting all people.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

Masks or screens for the face: which protects against coronavirus more effectively

How not to get coronavirus in the elevator: CDC recommendations

Nine times infectious: a new strain of coronavirus is spreading in the US and Europe

Last warning: the airline will issue yellow cards to unmasked passengers

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