Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
Masks for Prevention of Respiratory Virus Infections, Including SARS-CoV-2, in Health Care and Community Settings
Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University reviewed multiple electronic databases, including the World Health Organization COVID-19 database and medRxiv preprint server to examine the effectiveness of N95, surgical, and cloth masks in community and health care settings for preventing respiratory virus infections, and effects of reuse or extended use of N95 masks. They found that evidence on mask effectiveness for respiratory infection prevention is stronger in health care than community settings. Current evidence suggests that use of N95 respirators might reduce SARS-CoV-1 risk versus surgical masks in health care settings, but applicability to SARSCoV-2 is uncertain. This is a living review, meaning that the article will be updated periodically, with updates appearing in the comments section. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-3213.
Media contacts: A PDF for this article is not yet available. Please click the link to read full text. The lead author, Roger Chou, MD, can be reached through Erik Robinson at robineri@ohsu.edu.
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Journal
Annals of Internal Medicine