Source control is a strategy for reducing disease transmission by blocking respiratory secretions produced through breathing, speaking, coughing, sneezing or singing. Multiple source control techniques can be used in hospitals, but for the general public wearing personal protective equipment during epidemics or pandemics, respirators provide the greatest source control, followed by surgical masks, with cloth face masks recommended for use by the public only when there are shortages of both respirators and surgical masks.
___Face_masks_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic_q.jpg)
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
👉 Source control (respiratory disease) in the context of Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks or coverings, including N95, FFP2, surgical, and cloth masks, have been employed as public and personal health control measures against the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
In community and healthcare settings, the use of face masks is intended as source control to limit transmission of the virus and for personal protection to prevent infection. Properly worn masks both limit the respiratory droplets and aerosols spread by infected individuals and help protect healthy individuals from infection.
In this Dossier
Source control (respiratory disease) in the context of N95 mask
An N95 respirator is a disposable filtering facepiece respirator or reusable elastomeric respirator filter that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 standard of air filtration, filtering at least 95% of airborne particles that have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of 0.3 micrometers under 42 CFR 84, effective July 1995.
A surgical N95 is also rated against fluids, and is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration under 21 CFR 878.4040, in addition to NIOSH 42 CFR 84. 42 CFR 84, the federal standard which the N95 is part of, was created to address shortcomings in the prior United States Bureau of Mines respirator testing standards, as well as tuberculosis outbreaks, caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. Since then, N95 respirator has continued to be used as a source control measure in various pandemics that have been experienced in the United States and Canada, including the 2009 swine flu and the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been recommended by the EPA for protection against wildfire smoke.
Source control (respiratory disease) in the context of Cloth face mask
A cloth face mask is a mask made of common textiles, usually cotton, worn over the mouth and nose. When more effective masks are not available, cloth face masks are recommended by public health agencies for disease source control in epidemic situations to protect others from virus-laden aerosols emitted by infected mask wearers' as they breathe, talk, cough, or sneeze.
Cloth masks are also used to reduce the risk of transmission to the wearer. Because they are less effective than N95 masks in protecting the wearer against viruses and other airborne particles, they are not considered to be personal protective equipment by public health agencies.