“雙重口罩”預防新冠肺炎?專家認為這是個好主意

“雙重口罩”預防新冠肺炎?專家認為這是個好主意

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge around the world and new highly infectious variants are on the loose, some people have started doubling up on masks by wearing two on top of each other. This might sound unnecessary or overly cautious, but many leading health experts are arguing it could help to further stop the spread of COVID-19.

隨著新冠肺炎病例在全球持續(xù)激增，新的高傳染性變異病毒仍在蔓延，一些人開始加倍戴口罩，一次戴兩個。這聽起來可能沒有必要或過于謹慎，但許多知名衛(wèi)生專家認為，這可能有助于進一步阻止COVID-19的傳播。

The idea behind this is simple: COVID-19 is caused by an airborne virus and can spread by aerosolized droplets of salvia that have become laced with the virus. If you wear a covering across your nose and mouth, many of these droplets will be filtered and blocked from flowing into the surrounding air, reducing the risk of transmission of the virus. However, since these infectious droplets are so small, a mask can not stop 100 percent of the viruses seeping through into the surrounding air.

這背后的想法很簡單:COVID-19是由空氣傳播的病毒引起的，可以通過含有病毒的鼠尾草霧化飛沫傳播。如果你在鼻子和嘴巴上戴上覆蓋物，很多飛沫就會被過濾并阻止流入周圍的空氣，從而降低病毒傳播的風險。然而，由于這些傳染性飛沫如此之小，口罩不能100%阻止病毒滲入周圍空氣。

One solution to this problem is wearing an N95 mask, which is designed to achieve a very close facial fit and is around 95 percent effective at blocking tiny particles 0.1 to 0.3 microns in size. Alternatively, simply wearing two masks could help to add another layer of protection.

解決這個問題的一種方法是佩戴N95口罩，這種口罩的設計目的是讓面部非常貼合，在阻擋0.1到0.3微米大小的微粒方面，其有效性約為95%。另外，簡單地戴兩個口罩可以幫助增加一層保護。

Tom Hale

“A mask is like an obstacle course for particles to get through,” Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne virus transmission and a professor of engineering at Virginia Tech said speaking to the AARP focus group. “Adding a second mask adds another obstacle course, increasing the chance that the particle will be trapped before it gets through to the other side."

病毒通過空氣傳播的專家、弗吉尼亞理工大學的工程學教授林西·馬爾在接受美國退休人員協(xié)會(AARP)小組采訪時說:“口罩就像是粒子穿過的一道障礙。增加第二個面罩增加了另一個障礙，增加了粒子在穿過另一邊之前被困住的機會。”

Marr published a study late last year looking at this question and found that simply wearing at least two layers of either a high-quality surgical mask or a tightly fitted fabric mask could block up to 90 percent of infectious particles – nearly as effective as an N95 mask.

Marr在去年年底發(fā)表了一項研究，研究了這個問題，發(fā)現(xiàn)只要戴上至少兩層高質(zhì)量的外科口罩或緊密貼合的織物口罩，就能阻擋高達90%的傳染性顆粒——幾乎和N95口罩一樣有效。

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is also a backer of this idea. When TODAY asked him whether a “double mask” provides more protection, he replied: “You know, it likely does, because this is a physical covering to prevent droplets and virus to get in.”

美國國家過敏和傳染病研究所所長安東尼·福奇博士也是這一觀點的支持者。當被問及“雙層口罩”是否能提供更多保護時，他回答說:“可能可以，因為這是一種物理覆蓋物，可以防止飛沫和病毒進入。”

“So, if you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective, and that’s the reason why you see people either double-masking or doing a version of an N95,” Dr Fauci added.

福奇博士補充說:“所以，如果你用一層物理覆蓋物蓋上一層，再蓋上另一層，這是很正常的，它可能會更有效。這就是為什么你看到人們要么用雙層遮蓋物，要么用一種版本的N95。”

Whatever mask you wear, it's important to ensure it fits snuggly on the face and completely covers your nose and mouth. Not all face masks are created equal, however. A study published in the journal BMJ Open last year found that N95 masks were highly effective at filtering out ultrafine particles expelled at the velocity of a human cough, but vacuum bags were found to be even more effective, while other available materials were also comparable, with a few caveats. Lightweight t-shirt material was found to be the least effective face mask material, although it still blocked some particles.

無論你戴什么口罩，重要的是要確保它緊貼著你的臉，并完全罩住你的鼻子和嘴。然而，并不是所有的口罩都是一樣的。去年在BMJ雜志上公開發(fā)表的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn),N95口罩在過濾以人類咳嗽速度排出的超細顆粒方面非常有效，但真空袋被發(fā)現(xiàn)更有效，而其他可用材料也可以進行比較，但有幾點需要注意。輕質(zhì)t恤材料被發(fā)現(xiàn)是效果最差的口罩材料，盡管它仍然可以阻擋一些顆粒。