Tuesday, April 7, 2020

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SURGICAL MASK AND A RESPIRATOR MASK - They may look similar, but they serve different purposes - There are two types of masks used in preventing infections: surgical masks and respirator masks. It’s important to know the difference, and which situations they’re useful in, as well as when other wellness hygiene tactics might better serve you. Surgical masks are basically small pieces of cloth people use to keep the germs from their coughs and sneezes to themselves, or to prevent picking up other people’s viruses and bacteria. Respirator masks are more sturdily designed than surgical masks, and they contain a respirator that prevents much smaller particles from passing through to a person’s respiratory system. Two of the most common respirator masks are N-95 masks and N-99 masks, which prevent 95 percent and 99 percent, respectively, of airborne particles from entering a person’s mouth or nose. Because they filter out smaller particles, respirator masks also typically protect against different kinds of pathogens. Surgical masks protect against droplet-spread infections, like influenza and other common respiratory infections. N-95 and N-99 respirator masks can protect against airborne illnesses like measles, chickenpox, or tuberculosis.

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Photo of N95 respirator
N95 respirator
The Difference Between a Surgical Mask and a Respirator Mask 
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Picture of a surgical mask
surgical mask

They may look similar, but they serve different purposes
BY ASHLEY ABRAMSON



To prevent the spread of infectious diseases, many people reach for face masks — and when pandemics like the coronavirus occur, there are sometimes even mask shortages among the general public.
But experts say masks aren’t always the best route for warding off infection, and in the case of coronavirus, the CDC is specifically advising that people do not need to wear face masks unless a health care worker specifically recommends it to you, or you work in health care yourself, you already have COVID-19, or are taking care of someone who does.
According to Michael Chang, an infectious disease specialist at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, masks are usually used by health care providers in hospitals and clinics, where the risk of transmitting or catching an illness is higher.
“In the health care setting we primarily use masks to isolate people both the people who are taking care of patients as well as protecting the patients from the providers potentially spreading something to them,” he says. “They can offer two-way protection.”
There are two types of masks used in preventing infections: surgical masks and respirator masks.
It’s important to know the difference, and which situations they’re useful in, as well as when other wellness hygiene tactics might better serve you.
How are respirator masks different from surgical masks?
Surgical masks and respirator masks serve different purposes, so they are designed differently.
Andrew Stanley Pekosz, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, says surgical masks are basically small pieces of cloth people use to keep the germs from their coughs and sneezes to themselves, or to prevent picking up other people’s viruses and bacteria.
“It’s really a general physical block to prevent major amounts of fluid from accessing your mouth,” Pekosz tells Allure.
Respirator masks, Pekosz says, are more sturdily designed than surgical masks, and they contain a respirator that prevents much smaller particles from passing through to a person’s respiratory system.
Two of the most common respirator masks are N-95 masks and N-99 masks, which, when used correctly, prevent 95 percent and 99 percent, respectively, of airborne particles from entering a person’s mouth or nose.
Because they filter out smaller particles, respirator masks also typically protect against different kinds of pathogens, according to Irfan Hafiz, an infectious disease physician with Northwestern Medicine.
Surgical masks protect against droplet-spread infections, like influenza and other common respiratory infections.
N-95 and N-99 respirator masks can protect against airborne illnesses like measles, chickenpox, or tuberculosis.
Pekosz says most illnesses are spread by droplets, which means a respirator mask is considered a higher-level method of protection only needed for airborne illnesses.
If doctors aren’t sure about the way a disease spreads — like in the early stages of an outbreak — Hafiz says doctors would recommend a higher level of protection with a respirator mask.
When are respirator masks used?
Sometimes, Hafiz says, if a patient is sick and being transported or if someone is coughing in the waiting room, doctors might put a surgical or respirator mask — depending on the suspected illness — on a patient to temporarily avoid transmitting sickness to others.
But that’s the exception to the rule: Most of the time, it’s the health care providers who wear masks, not patients or the general public, Hafiz tells Allure.
Chang says health care providers commonly wear surgical masks in the operating room to prevent large particles from contaminating the surgical sites.
And if a doctor suspects a viral or bacterial infection in a patient, health care workers might wear surgical masks to prevent catching the illness if the patient coughs or sneezes.
“Surgical masks can protect the provider from any large droplets a patient might generate,” he says.
If a health care professional is worried about airborne infectious diseases, Chang says they may upgrade to an N-95 or N-99 mask.
But a mask is rarely the only barrier: Chang explains health care providers also use gowns, gloves, and sanitary practices to prevent spreading germs.
“A mask is rarely used by itself; it’s almost always used as part of a system where we have multiple barriers against any infectious particles,” he says.
Do healthy people need masks?
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend the use of masks by healthy people for preventing influenza; recently, the U.S. Surgeon General tweeted to discourage healthy people from buying and wearing masks, specifically during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak.
One reason, Pekosz says, is there hasn’t been much proven benefit to show that wearing a mask benefits the wearer’s health.
Respirator masks can also be complicated to use, which is one reason they’re not recommended to the public.
“N-95 masks are quite uncomfortable,” he says.
“Most of the general public can’t keep them on 100 percent of the time, which is what you need to do for them to be effective.”
What’s the best way to prevent the spread of disease?
Since masks aren’t necessarily the most effective way to prevent infection, what are the best practices for decreasing the risk?
Hafiz says if you’re feeling sick, it’s important to visit your doctor and avoid going to work.
If you are well and concerned, focus on handwashing with soap and water, and use hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol if you’re unable to wash your hands, and follow the CDC’s most current guidelines.
“If it gets soiled, a mask can make things worse instead of better,” Hafiz says. “It’s probably really not helping that much if you’re feeling well. It may actually in some ways hinder things.”
Pekosz says over-reliance on masks may also neglect other important health practices, like washing your hands, keeping a distance from people who are ill, and staying home if you’re sick.
“When it comes to infectious diseases and transmission, we build everything around multiple layers that allow you multiple ways to protect yourself,” he says.
“Those are the things when you have multiple put together that you can start to see some significant protection from infectious diseases.”

Ashley Abramson
CONTRIBUTOR
Ashley Abramson is a writer-mom hybrid in Minneapolis, MN. She most frequently writes about health, motherhood, culture, and the places they intersect.
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