Facemasks can give people immunity & reduce severity of COVID-19 infection: Study

A new academic research has found that universal use of protective face covering will t only provide immunity against vel coronavirus, but will also reduce severity of illness in case of pathogen’s contraction. A study published in New England Journal of Medicine on September 25 said that use of face masks by majority population ensures that a greater proportion of new infections are asymptomatic. researchers argue, that while world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, wide-scale use of masks can turn to a form of variolation (iculation) against disease and can generate slow immunity, reby, reducing contagion of virus. 

A separate study published in Lancet last month backed universal mask-wearing, saying, scientific evidence suggests that severity of coronavirus illness depends on amount of pathogen an individual is exposed to. And refore, symptom of illness is determined from initial exposure to infectious dose or virus load that enters respiratory system. Masks could significantly reduce and even prohibit coronavirus particles from entering mouth and se. “Viral load at diagsis was an “independent predictor of mortality in hospital patients'', Lancet report read. 

Hence, wearer of mask can reduce impact of coronavirus, and overall impact of COIVD-19 disease by controlling infectious dose and filtering out coronavirus loaded aerosols. Scientists in new research suggest that this could mean that large-scale mask-wearing by population might ensure a higher proportion of asymptomatic Covid-19 infections.

“A low viral load can be eugh to induce an immune response, which is effectively what a typical vaccine does,” commentary in medical journal stated.

Read: CDC Chief Says Face Masks May Provide Better Protection Against COVID-19 Than Vaccine

Read: Study: Household Fabrics Masks Effective Against Coronavirus Transmission

Experiment proved mask efficacy

While research is subject to a more clinical study, scientists ted that laboratory experiments conducted by a team of researchers in China found that hamsters that were housed behind surgical masks enclosures in experiment were less likely infected from coronavirus, and those that did contract virus showed less severe symptoms that hamsters without protection. 

Infectious disease physician at University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Monica Gandhi, one of lead authors of research paper, told Sunday Telegraph that to test variolation hyposis, more studies comparing strength and durability of SARS-CoV-2–specific T-cell immunity between people with an asymptomatic infection and those with symptomatic infection is needed. She added, that scientists also needed demonstrations of natural slowing of SARS-CoV-2 spread in areas with a high proportion of asymptomatic infections.

Read: COVID-19: How Different Masks Stop Virus; US Researchers Conduct A Study

Read: Dr Anthony Fauci: Wear Masks, Keep Distant After Vaccine

Im Credits: PTI