Science shows this on the side effects of masks

The mask is largely safe for children


Florida Gov. Ron Desantis is a handful of Republican governors who are trying to block school districts to requiremask in the classroom.

Under the direction of Desantis, theState Health Department adopted a rule This allows families to choose locally ordered school mask mandates. The Council of State for Educationapproved Another rule that allows parents to secure the vouchers to their children attending a different school if they encounter folding about their refusal to use masks. The Desantis Administrationthreatens Financially penalize school officials if they consolidated the rules.

Much of the desantis argument was based on its belief that parents have the right to determine what is best for their child, as well as his doubts as to whether mask mask mandates are effective in reducing the virus of COVID in a school setting. (When politenesslook at In the latter argument, multiple experts pointed out that research shows that the mask port is effective in protecting children fromCOVID-19 and prevent the transmission of COVID in schools.)

But desantis also cited specific negatives for the health of mask servers.

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In aexecutive order, Desantis wrote that "masking children can lead to branches of health and negative society" and that "oblige children to wear masks could prevent breathing, lead to the collection of dangerous impurities, including Parasites of bacteria, fungi and other contaminants, and negatively affect communications in the classroom and student performance. "

The secretary of the Desantis press, Christina Preapper, told politics ", there are potential disadvantages to hide children for eight hours a day, from a perspective of development, emotional, academic and medical. These potential disadvantages are largely unexplored ".

She cited concerns raised in aOP-ED by Dr. Marty Makary, Professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine School and Dr. Cody Meissner, Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Tufts Children's Hospital, who said that "masks can lead to an increase in levels. Carbon dioxide in the blood "and that they can be vectors for pathogens if they become wet or are used too long." Makary and Meissner also warned impact on verbal and nonverbal communication.

Other people aligned with the desantis view have put harm to children with masks to even more striking conditions.

During a discussion on the panel gathered by Desantis, Dr. Mark McDonald said, "My position is simple: the masking of children is an abuse of children," according to theMiami Herald. (Meissner was also on the panel.)

REP. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C)talked Against a school mask mandate proposed by the Board of Directors of the County of Buncombe, saying that a mandate is "nothing less psychological abuse for children".

And on theJuly 27 Edition Tucker Carlson said it's a "scientifically established fact that masks are a much greater threat to children than Covid. So, strictly speaking as a scientific case, it's a madness. "

What does the science say if the masks can harm the wearer?

As a general rule, we have found that concerns about significant negative effects on breathing are not well supported. The worries of masks interfering with communication and serving as a barrier to the social connection in the classroom can be more reasonable, say experts.

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Respiratory concerns

The first thing to note is that masks are not recommended for everyone. The American Lung Association warns people with pulmonary disease, for example, to consult their doctor before wearing a mask regularly. In addition, the CDCDo not recommend that children under 2 years have masks. Masks are also usuallynot recommended during the heavy exercise.

But what about people who do not fall into these categories? Could they be injured by wearing a mask?

Some of the most commonly posed concerns involve a lack of oxygen or accumulation of carbon dioxide. We have previouslyfind Phone concern to be especially, to haveother fact.

The problem "has been convincingly demystified," said Babak Javid, Professor of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco.

We should note that child-specific studies have been rare. Most of the scientific literature has therefore involved research on adults. Of themstudies tokids The N95 masks used, which are more sophisticated than masks most schoolchildren will use, but even these found no significant effect on breathing. Other studies examined by peer adults produced similar results.

A mask "will add some resistance to the breathing process, which means that it can feel as if it takes a little more work to take a breath, but it will not significantly change the makeup of the air that Go through the mask, "said Benjamin Neuman, a Texas A & M University Biology Professor and the Director of the University Health Research Complex.

Apaper Posted in February examined 10 previous studies on adults or children who responded to respiration issues while wearing a mask. The authors expressed their disappointment with the way few studies specifically examined the impacts of children and urged more research is needed on this specific issue.

However, the paper found little reason for worry.

"The eight adult studies, including four included by the pandemic and one on surgeons, reported that the face masks commonly used during the pandemic did not affect the gas exchange during rest or light exercise," wrote the authors.

Juneto study It seemed to indicate the breathing challenges for masked children wasretracted by the newspaperJama Pediatrics 16 days after publication due to methodological gaps andOther concerns.

Dr. David Hill, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Pulmonary Association, haswriting These masks "absolutely" do not cause low levels of oxygen.

"We wear masks all day at the hospital," Hill wrote. "The masks are designed to be breathable and there is no evidence that low oxygen levels occur."

Another reason that medical experts are not too worried is that "the world has engaged in a massive - observational study, but literally billions of people - on mass mask, and people do not fall Left, right and center, "said Javid.

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Other possible risks

Some other complaints about sometimes surface masks, such as fear they can concentrate toxins or harm the immune system. But these are not well supported either, say experts.

As long as the masks are regularly replaced or bleached, "there is no reason to worry about toxins"noted Virologist Columbia Angela Rasmussen. And there is no evidence that masks have no effect on the immune system or immune, "she said.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Health Center, "Politipact, told Politipact who extinguished a student's backpack would probably generate as many pathogens (or more) as covering their mask.

And Nicole Gatto, Associate Professor of Public Health of the University of Claremont Graduates, said that pathogens on masks can be proven that they are kept "out of the mouth and our noses of those who wore them , thus preventing people from getting sick. "

Although the scientific evidence of specific diseases such as low oxygen or high carbon dioxide are low, experts say it is more plausible than the trouble of masking can distract class lessons and make it more difficult to hear it other students or teacher.

In September 2020paper in theInternational Journal for Environmental Research and Public Health, the authors wrote that "although there are minimal physiological impacts on the wear of a mask ... there may be psychological impacts corridus of the mask on the basic psychological needs of the competence, of the autonomy and relationship. "

These disadvantages can be particularly serious for students who are English language learners or those who are deaf or hard to hear.

"The masks interfere with reading lips, which has a major impact on communication," Javid said.

The reality is that "there is minimum evidence" on the severity of these types of impacts for most children. "This is the first time in most of our lives, we faced the perspective of isolation and continuous masking, so it is not surprising that we have insufficient evidence to guide us," said Amy Price, a senior research scientist from Stanford University.

However, there is evidence that children are adaptable. In a December 2020 study on the ability of children to read the facial expressions of masked people, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madisonfound "Although there may be challenges for children engaged by other people wearing masks, associated with other contextual signals, it is unlikely that the masks do not speak dramatically to the social interactions of children in their daily lives. "

And child development experts Attention to assume that all masks deficits will focus in the long run.

Most children "do not like to wear pants or shoes at first, but they adjust, as they do for all the other things we need," said Ae Learmon, professor with cognition, memory and The development laboratory of the University of William Paterson. "In many ways, a mask is just another article of clothes. At first, it could be distracting and uncomfortable, but like shoes, they will get used to it."

Meanwhile, the survey suggests that parents are open to masks in schools. A KFF investigation taken in July and August find 63% of parents wanted masks required in unvaccinated people.

Politicact Gabrielle Rule and Jason Asenso contributed to this article.

Kn (Kaiser Health News) is a national press room that produces in-depth journalism on health problems.

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