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The untold origin story of the N95 mask
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The mask
The mask - a flimsy polymer cup - fits tightly around the face and is capable of filtering 95% of airborne particles, such as viruses, from the air.
The firsts masks were cloth placed around the mouths and noses of people and were not meant to be against contagion. It was to stop the smell as people thought that the stench caused disease. By protecting themselves from the smell, people thought they'd be protected from the disease.
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Surgical masks
Doctors started wearing the first surgical masks in 1897. The masks were not designed to prevent airborne disease - that is still not the case today - but to prevent doctors from coughing or sneezing droplets onto wounds during surgery.
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The first modern respirator
During 1920, a plague broke out between a shared jurisdiction of China and Russia. The Chinese Imperial Court brought in a young doctor named Lien-teh Wu that determined that the plague was not spread by fleas but through the air. He expanded upon the surgery masks he'd seen in the West, and made it from gauze and cotton and added several layers of cloth to filter inhalations.
When the Spanish flu arrived in 1918, the mask was well-known among scientists and the public.
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The modern mask
- At first, the masks wrapped around your entire head to clean the air supply.
- Similar masks, loaded with fiberglass filter, began to be used in the mining industry to prevent black lung. It could be washed and reused.
- Although it saved lives, it was burdensome, and the dangers of inhaling asbestos became known.
- In the 1970s, the first single-use "dust" respirator was created.
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How the N95 respirator works
Instead of fiberglass, single-use respirators are made from melted polymer and air-blasted into layers of tiny fibers with bigger spaces between them.
As particles fly into this maze of fibers, they get stuck. An electrostatic charge is added to the material, so even smaller particles are pulled toward the fibers, while the big holes make it easy to breathe. The longer you wear an N95 respirator, the more efficient it becomes. But breathing becomes more difficult over time as the bigger holes get clogged up with particles.
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Protection By Face Masks
Due to the Wuhan virus spreading across the world, the use of face masks might seem a good means of protection.
The N95 mask, which is a heavy-duty mask offers better protection (95% of air...
Protect Yourself Wisely
- Cloth masks, which are reusable and washable, offer no real protection while being potentially harmful in case there is any moisture retention or dirt in them due to their being reused.
- It is a good practice to wear a mask all the time, especially if you have any respiratory illness.
- It is advisable to be careful while removing your mask, as a mere touch of your hands on the front of the mask can contaminate it.
- It is also advisable not to touch your face or nose too much.
- Constantly and frequently wash your hands, all year round, and get a flu shot, as it is flu season. While a flu shot is not a protection against the virus, it is still advisable to get one.
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Helping others during a pandemic
Research shows that, whenever we help others, we help ourselves too. This happens because we focus on someone else's needs rather than ours, which enables us to feel less stressed and more conn...
Helping others while in quarantine
If you feel like helping others while you are forced to stay in self-isolation, here is some good news for you: this is totally possible. By making donations to hospitals, caring for doctors' children or creating opportunities of any kind for people to gather up virtually, you can not only make the ones around you feel less stressed but also give yourself a chance to rediscover the true meaning of the community and focus on something else but your own worries.
Seize the opportunity to help others
Volunteering has mostly positive effects for both sides. Being willing to take a risk of contracting a virus or just spending your free time helping others instead of focusing on yourself can actually pay off. Furthermore, volunteering can even feel as an easy task, provided that you control how much time you spend focusing on the others. Don't go overboard and everything will be alright.
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The habit of shaking hands
Taking into account the current situation created by the new virus, disease experts state that we should all consider removing handshakes from our habits from now on, as they could only increase th...
Giving up on handshakes
While shaking hands reveals the need to connect with the other and be socially engaged, several disease experts are encouraging us to find a substitute that would endanger less our health throughout periods of pandemics and not only. For instance, greetings such as simply stating how much of a pleasure it is to meet a person could actually do the trick.
Adapting our social habits
While disease experts support the idea of removing the handshakes from our cultural customs, several University professors claim that individuals are surely able to adept their customs, even if these have been practiced for generations to come. Therefore, giving up or just adjusting the handshake, should be no major issue for our civilization.