From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Sat Mar 29 2003 - 15:06:32 MST
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harvey Newstrom" <mail@harveynewstrom.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 3:58 PM
Subject: RE: SARS: update
> Robert J. Bradbury wrote,
> > I don't know if drug stores sell surgical masks (does anyone know?)
> > but I'd strongly urge Extropes to pin down a source for these before
> > things become much worse.
>
> Surgical masks don't work for this purpose. They were designed to keep
> surgeons from breathing directly onto their patients during an operation.
> They do not filter viruses out of the air being breathed in. The sides of
> the masks are open and let unfiltered air in.
### Surgical masks partially filter small fluid droplets which can contain
viruses. Also, they make it less likely to transfer material from your hands
to the vicinity of your mouth, where it can be ingested.
This said, I am still not convinced we are in great danger. Ebola and West
Nile virus also looked bad but never panned out as pandemics.
Rafal
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