The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lambested a Danish study released on Wednesday, which found that surgical masks do not protect against coronavirus.
In an editorial in response to a study published in Als Null Intern Internal Medicine (AIM), former CDC director Thomas Frieden wrote, “No strategy in the community can control the epidemic. Approach
“The N95 mask is better than the surgical mask. Surgical masks are better than most cloth masks. A cloth mask is better than nothing, “said Frieden.
The study, published in AIM, was noted by critics to have some issues, meaning that the infection rate in Denmark was low and other remedial measures were already in place when the study relied heavily on home tests reported by the patient.
The test subjects were divided into two groups, one group was asked to wear a mask, while the other was told to go without. Of the 6262૨ who completed the study, 42૨ wore the mask and those 53 who did not wear the mask contracted coronavirus in each group.
Infected people presented 1.8 percent of those wearing masks and 2.1 percent of the control group, the results were not considered statistically significant.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen who conducted the study found that the results were “indecisive”, but later noted that wearing a mask did not reduce the rate of infection.
According to the New York Times, the findings of the Danish study contradict the evidence of other studies that wearing a mask is the best way to reduce infection, according to The New York Times.
A CDC report released last week found that wearing a mask not only protects the general public from transmission, it also protects the wearer.
In September, CDC Director Robert Redfield told senators that wearing a mask is sure to provide at least a little protection for all wearers.
“We have clear scientific evidence from them. All I can say is that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against covid than to vaccinate covid, because the immune system can be 100% and if I don’t, I’m immune. There will be no response, the vaccine will not protect me, this will mask the face, ”Redfield said.
On Monday, NIH director Francis Collins called the mask “not an invasion of your personal freedom” but a “medical tool to save lives.” He stressed the need to remember the three W’s, “Wear your mask, watch your distance and wash your hands.”
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