Swine Influenza: Could a Facemask Save You?

July 8, 2009

Influenza by Roman Gomez

Each year about 70,000 people are hospitalized with the basic flu symptoms in Canada, while 4,000 to 8,000 develop complications and pass away. The numbers of the swine flu cases are much lesser so far. Up until today, there are 8,883 confirmed cases of the H1N1 swine flu in Canada, with 36 related deaths. In Ontario it is 3,464 cases with 12 related deaths. So the question is why is the WHO (World Health Organization) so afraid of this type of flu when much more people die every year from the basic type?

One of the reasons is that the normal flu is usually dangerous to only very small babies or old people or those with compromised immune system. On the other hand, the swine flu we are currently dealing with has proved to be dangerous to mostly healthy young people. Also, the WHO is trying its best to prevent the big pandemic of so called Spanish flu from 1918 to repeat. In order to stop the flu from spreading, the WHO advised people to wear a facemask.

Before we go on more about the mask, yesterday you maybe heard of or read about the two farmers from Saskatchewan province getting sick with a new type of swine flu. According to the officials, there's nothing to worry about, since this virus caused only very mild flu symptoms and will most likely not spread at all.

The mask: what does it do?

Influenza, or simply flu, is a respiratory disease. It is mostly spread by inhaling the virus in the mist created by coughing & sneezing of an ill person, or by touching your face (eyes, nose or mouth) after you touched a surface contaminated with the virus. The trouble with flu is that you are contagious one day before you get any flu symptoms and up to seven days after the first symptoms occurred. So before you know you're sick, you might infect other people at home, work or school or wherever you were, since you didn't feel ill.

The whole idea about the facemask is to provide a barrier between you and your surroundings. The basic facemask isn't too good in filtering the air you breath in, so it's not so very efficient to prevent you from catching the virus. On the other hand it's quite good for blocking the virus to spread by coughing and sneezing, so it's recommended for people that are already sick in order to stop the virus from spreading. Also, because an infected person is contagious before they know they're sick, wearing a face mask even when you feel you're ok could slow down the rapid virus spreading.

The N95 respirators & general advice

If you are thinking of wearing the facemask to protect you from possible inhalation of the virus caused by somebody who's infected accidentally sneezing or coughing near you, you should consider switching from the basic face or surgeon mask to the N95 respirator. This kind of mask offers near 99% filtration of the particles that could possibly make you sick.

While wearing a mast or respirator could prove quite useful, no mask will ever do its job properly if we forget about the basic hygiene recommendation. The three most important are:

• Frequent hand-washing either with soap and water, or using some alcohol-based hand sanitizers
• Always using a tissue when sneezing or coughing and discharging the tissue straight after use
• Stay at home if you feel sick

It is also advised to avoid crowded places if possible.

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