As per the ARIA-MASK study group,the COVID-19 pandemic has
coincided with the seasonal/spring allergy season. Hence sneezing, a
common symptom in patients with Allergic rhinitis could end up being a
potential source of rampant disease spread.A face mask would not only
protect the wearer from allergen exposure and direct air currents over
the nose but would also offer protection to the people around as these
droplets released following a sneeze shall be contained within the
mask.
Van
der Sande et al., in an experimental simulation compared the
filtering capacity of three different masks, (i ) home-made (DIY)
of cloth, (ii ) standard surgical masks,(iii ) FFP2, the
European equivalent to an N95 mask. The FFP2(or N95) mask filtered out
more than 99% of particles,leading to reduction of aerosol load
by 100-fold, while surgical masks lowered the number by a
substantial 4-fold. [4] It is noteworthy that the N95 masks
are effective but expensive too.