Drop Public Mask Mandates Without Misgivings
Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group Concludes Masks "Make Little or No Difference" in Spread of Viral Respiratory Illnesses
By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
As a doctor in public view I have always stated that I have no problem wearing a mask as I have always done when seeing a patient in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, operating room, or in hospital respiratory isolation. However, the craze over community masking has preoccupied the public and the questioning media, and thus, the paper from the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Illnesses Group by Jefferson et al, is an important summary to quote for the schools, employers, travel, and hospitals. This UK group is known to be exhaustive and fair balanced in their conclusions.
Community Masking
Jefferson et al included 12 trials (10 cluster-RCTs) comparing medical/surgical masks versus no masks to prevent the spread of viral respiratory illness (two trials with healthcare workers and 10 in the community). Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of viral illness and laboratory confirmed viral disease risk ratio (RR) 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84 to 1.09; 9 trials, 276,917 participants; RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.42; 6 trials, 13,919 participants; moderate-certainty evidence, respectively.
Healthcare Workers N95/P2 versus Standard Surgical Masks
Five studies of N95/P2 respirators compared with medical/surgical masks on the outcome of clinical respiratory illness (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.10; 3 trials, 7779 participants; very low-certainty evidence). One previously reported ongoing RCTĀ has now been published and observed that medical/surgical masks were non-inferior to N95 respirators in a large study of 1009 healthcare workers in four countries providing direct care to COVID-19 patients.
In summary, my views have not changed. I will wear a mask as I have always done in appropriate healthcare settings. Mask mandates and public masking can be dropped with no misgivings based on these data. The use of masking in public should remain a personal choice without judgement. Yesterday I a saw an immunocompromised liver transplant patient in the office wearing a maskāperfectly appropriate for him given the wide range of pathogens he could encounter in elevators and waiting rooms. Most importantly, our public health officials should stop any further embarrassing comments on masking since we are back to where we have been for decades on this issue in clinical practice.
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Where is the evidence that masking the immunocompromised makes a difference in infection rates or outcomes? Most people infer that if masking is good for the compromised then it will be good for them. Masking in hospital operatory settings is barrier protection for the patient from operator spittle. Masking in respiratory isolation might make the staff feel safer from an actively coughing TB case, but where is the evidence that masking hinders the spread of viral respiratory disease in the hospital setting?
Dr Mccullough ... in a recent interview you refered to a study by Helen Banoun which talked about vaccine shedding. If the unvaccinated are exposed to the vacine through shedding does it equal having taken the shot? I.e. is it permenant and gene editing? Please clarify your opinion on this most important question. https://www.tmrjournals.com/public/articlePDF/20221114/483e983160eb24f1ef94bdd666603ac9.pdf