Mask- An Immunity Defense Gear to fight COVID-19

The masks have become permanent fixtures ever since the COVID-19 outbreak. Face masks were also a breakthrough in containing the spread when the Spanish flu broke out 100 years ago. Literature evidence has proved masks had declined the hospitalizations and casualties.

In the phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing of masks is now the new normal, has been made a punishable offense not to wear one. Moreover, it’s a sign of civic responsibility for all citizens; not wearing one is a mark of irresponsibility. The new culture of a mask is the armor to many and acting like an immunity gear.

The recently published study in the New England Journal Medicine has shown promising evidence of universal face masking that might help reduce the severity of coronavirus. The hypothesis is based on limiting the exposure of the COVID virus by wearing a mask, in turn generating an immune response in the body. Thus, increasing the asymptomatic cases and slowing the spread of disease.

 How Mask generates Vaccine like effect?

• Variolation is the practice of deliberately infecting people with low doses of a pathogen to generate a protective immune response that prevents reinfection.
• Mask creates a variolation effect to build immunity and slow the spread of infection
• Mask filters out some virus-containing droplets, reducing the infected amount of virus inhaled
• Mask allows a small amount of virus to enter and produces a vaccine-like effect

Why wearing Mask should be considered as self-defense immunity gear?

• The idea is to wear a clean mask which should cover the nose and mouth with a snug fit to block the viral particles entering the nose and mouth
• It limits the spread of COVID virus which sheds from the nose and mouth
• Recent research suggests that wearing a mask would become a form of variolation that would generate an immune response and slow the spread of the virus.

However, one needs to follow a holistic approach to fight the pandemic. Universal masking is one of the promising preventive strategies and at the same time, one should be still vigilant about avoiding crowds, maintaining social distancing, and following hand hygiene. These precautions are essential which overlap in their effects, but can’t replace one another.