The Integrative Health Podcast with Dr. Jen

Episode #27 Masks: "This is science y'all" with Brendan McNamara

August 10, 2021
The Integrative Health Podcast with Dr. Jen
Episode #27 Masks: "This is science y'all" with Brendan McNamara
Show Notes

Brendan McNamara is a human being made in the Image of God and His likeness as a creator. He's created characters - on screens big & small (from The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down to Brooklyn 99 to Loudermilk) on stage (from Neil Simon to countless improv shows on the stages of UCB, Groundlings, Second City, Improv Olympics, Hothouse, etc.) and on paper (writer for RipeTV's Hollywood Burn). He's created feature films (The Light of Love), documentaries (on everything from bull riding to street racing to celebrity impersonators) hundreds of short films and a vinyl comedy album, The Big Tickle). He also hosts a daily Biblical devotional on Instagram and pursues a multitude of auto-didactic areas of interest, wherever winds or whimsies blow. 

Studies:
Jacobs JL, Ohde S, Takahashi O, Tokuda Y, Omata F, Fukui T. Use of surgical face masks to reduce the incidence of the common cold among health care workers in Japan: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Infect Control. 2009 Jun;37(5):417-419. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2008.11.002. Epub 2009 Feb 12. PMID: 19216002.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19216002/

"Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds. A larger study is needed to definitively establish noninferiority of no mask use."

Aiello AE, Perez V, Coulborn RM, Davis BM, Uddin M, Monto AS. Facemasks, hand hygiene, and influenza among young adults: a randomized intervention trial. PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e29744. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029744. Epub 2012 Jan 25. PMID: 22295066; PMCID: PMC3266257.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22295066/

"Masks alone did not provide a benefit, suggesting that single personal protective interventions do not protect against incidence of ILI or influenza."

Mask and hygiene- not masks along helpful.

MacIntyre CR, Seale H, Dung TC, Hien NT, Nga PT, Chughtai AA, Rahman B, Dwyer DE, Wang Q. A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers. BMJ Open. 2015 Apr 22;5(4):e006577. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577. PMID: 25903751; PMCID: PMC4420971.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25903751/

"This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated."


Bundgaard H, Bundgaard JS, Raaschou-Pedersen DET, von Buchwald C, Todsen T, Norsk JB, Pries-Heje MM, Vissing CR, Nielsen PB, Winsløw UC, Fogh K, Hasselbalch R, Kristensen JH, Ringgaard A, Porsborg Andersen M, Goecke NB, Trebbien R, Skovgaard K, Benfield T, Ullum H, Torp-Pedersen C, Iversen K. Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers : A Randomized Controlled Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2021 Mar;174(3):335-343. doi: 10.7326/M20-6817. Epub 2020 Nov 18. PMID: 33205991; PMCID: PMC7707213.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33205991/

"The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use. The data were compatible with lesser degrees of self-protection."

MacIntyre CR, Chughtai