Mask. N95 or better. My wife and I never stopped, and she never gets sick despite being immunocompromised. I work in a place where illness is common due to the environment and I’ve been sick once in the last year, meanwhile all of my coworkers come in sick like twice a month. Apparently they’d rather be sick and miserable all the time than wear a mildly uncomfortable thing on their face.
Agreed. We have kept wearing masks in specific places (public transit, crowded events, airplanes) and it really does make a difference. I never get sick from airplane trips any more, which used to be a fairly regular occurrence.
I will say, I was never able to figure out how to stop a properly fitted mask from giving me a terrible headache after 8 hours of use so I’m glad I work from home and don’t need to make the choice of mask vs comfort at work.
While wearing a mask is never a bad idea, it is absolutely not necessary to not get sick. I am also immunocompromised and I have stopped wearing a mask. I wash my hands very often and never eat handheld food without washing first. Zero issues since getting covid back when I was wearing a mask religiously.
I thought masks wouldn’t protect against a virus (being tiny) but might help slow the spread to others by stopping spittle/moisture filled with virus from covering real world objects.
How do they help you if no one else is wearing them?
I recommend giving this a read when you have the time, it should hopefully answer any questions you have and better than I can.
An assumed droplet and contact mode of transmission leads to prevention policies that center on handwashing and surface cleansing, maintaining 2-m physical distancing, wearing medical masks (whose waterproof backing is designed to stop droplets) within that 2-m distance (especially when attending an infected patient), using physical barriers (e.g., plastic screens) and providing health-care workers with higher-grade respiratory protection only when undertaking AGMPs. However, if the virus is transmitted significantly by the airborne route, different prevention policies are needed, oriented to controlling air quality in indoor spaces (e.g., ventilation and filtration), reducing indoor crowding and time spent indoors, wearing masks whenever indoors, careful attention to mask quality (to maximize filtration) and fit (to avoid air passing through gaps), taking particular care during indoor activities that generate aerosols (e.g., speaking, singing, coughing, and exercising), and providing respirator-grade facial protection to all staff who work directly with patients (not just those doing AGMPs)
This is why I specified N95 respirators in my first comment. If you are unfamiliar, N95 is a NIOSH air filtration rating, which is used to describe the ability of a respirator to protect the wearer from airborne solid and liquid particulates. The review I linked goes into more details on this as well. I recommended N95 or better specifically because Covid is the illness I’m most concerned with avoiding, and the evidence suggests that they provide meaningful protection over lower grade respirators or surgical masks. Another quote from the link above that stood out to me:
The certification of surgical masks for particle/bacterial filtering efficiency (P/BFE) does not reflect equivalence to respirators as the filtration is typically compromised by poor face seal. The ASTM F2100-21 P/BFE certification, for example, requires at least 95% filtration against 0.1-µm particles and at least 98% against aerosolized Staphylococcus aureus, but this is on a sample of the mask clamped in a fixture, not on a representative face. In terms of filtering aerosols, N95 respirators outperform surgical masks between 8- and 12-fold. The effectiveness of certified surgical mask material against transmission when used as a filter was demonstrated in a hamster SARS-CoV-2 model. Infected hamsters were separated from non-infected ones by a partition made of surgical mask material; when the partition was in place, transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was reduced by 75%.
In addition to protecting the wearer, respirators provide very effective source control by dramatically limiting the amount of respiratory aerosols emitted by infectious individuals. In one study, risk of infection was reduced approximately 74-fold when infected, and susceptible individuals both wore well-fitting FFP respirators compared to when both wore surgical masks.
As for one-way masking, well, it is unfortunately significantly less effective (from what I understand), and is a big part of why I’m so concerned by others not masking. I simply cannot avoid being around others all the time, and their lack of effort is directly endangering me and my wife. If it really all came down to personal choice, I wouldn’t care if people wanted to risk their health. Still, while I don’t have any studies or anything to link you at the moment specifically on the effectiveness of one-way masking, all I know is that I mask and don’t get sick, and they don’t mask and do get sick. It’s anecdotal, sure, and I’m certain the mask is not the only thing affecting this, but as far as I can see it’s the largest difference in our behavior. I’ve heard as well that wearing a respirator will reduce viral load should you be infected despite the filter, and so your sickness will be less severe, but I don’t have any evidence on hand for this.
Key word being occasionally, and also not with a disease that causes serious health complications, cognitive decline, and that itself damages your immune system.
Exposure to one virus rarely leads to a resistance to another one. That’s why they have a new flu vaccine every year even though they’re all closely related. Cow pox immunizating against small pox was a fluke
It’s more about being exposed to everyday bacteria, pollen, and hot/cold cycling that gives your immune system exercise.
Where did you live? I always wore a mask around other people, but I also live in a rural area, so I didn’t need to wear a mask for that many hours comparatively.
Also in a more rural area. After Covid was over I got pretty sick 4-5 times from just normal colds. What used to be a slight headache had me bedridden. This happened a few times but gradually improved.
Now years later my immune system is back up and running again.
The level of sick for which this is true is below the threshold of what we normally call “getting sick”. You’re always fighting off something. That’s what’s good for you. Not the getting overwhelmed and having to stay in bed amount.
Mask. N95 or better. My wife and I never stopped, and she never gets sick despite being immunocompromised. I work in a place where illness is common due to the environment and I’ve been sick once in the last year, meanwhile all of my coworkers come in sick like twice a month. Apparently they’d rather be sick and miserable all the time than wear a mildly uncomfortable thing on their face.
Do ypu have kids? No masks, also barely ever got sick. With kids I’m sick 5 or 6 times a year. Could be the same for your coworkers.
My sweet friend with two childs is CONSTANTLY sick. My partner and I mostly WFH and have no kids and have gotten sick twice since 2020.
I do not have kids, and I don’t know about all of my coworkers, but I know the overwhelming majority of them do not have kids either.
Agreed. We have kept wearing masks in specific places (public transit, crowded events, airplanes) and it really does make a difference. I never get sick from airplane trips any more, which used to be a fairly regular occurrence.
I will say, I was never able to figure out how to stop a properly fitted mask from giving me a terrible headache after 8 hours of use so I’m glad I work from home and don’t need to make the choice of mask vs comfort at work.
My only dislike about the mask is that it sucks for people with glasses… If it wasn’t for that I would be using it all the time.
I liked to be allergy-less in my work lol.
I like having a face for expressions
While wearing a mask is never a bad idea, it is absolutely not necessary to not get sick. I am also immunocompromised and I have stopped wearing a mask. I wash my hands very often and never eat handheld food without washing first. Zero issues since getting covid back when I was wearing a mask religiously.
We’d rather not take risks. Plus, we’d like to not accidentally contribute to the spread of disease ourselves if we can help it.
I thought masks wouldn’t protect against a virus (being tiny) but might help slow the spread to others by stopping spittle/moisture filled with virus from covering real world objects.
How do they help you if no one else is wearing them?
Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review
I recommend giving this a read when you have the time, it should hopefully answer any questions you have and better than I can.
This is why I specified N95 respirators in my first comment. If you are unfamiliar, N95 is a NIOSH air filtration rating, which is used to describe the ability of a respirator to protect the wearer from airborne solid and liquid particulates. The review I linked goes into more details on this as well. I recommended N95 or better specifically because Covid is the illness I’m most concerned with avoiding, and the evidence suggests that they provide meaningful protection over lower grade respirators or surgical masks. Another quote from the link above that stood out to me:
As for one-way masking, well, it is unfortunately significantly less effective (from what I understand), and is a big part of why I’m so concerned by others not masking. I simply cannot avoid being around others all the time, and their lack of effort is directly endangering me and my wife. If it really all came down to personal choice, I wouldn’t care if people wanted to risk their health. Still, while I don’t have any studies or anything to link you at the moment specifically on the effectiveness of one-way masking, all I know is that I mask and don’t get sick, and they don’t mask and do get sick. It’s anecdotal, sure, and I’m certain the mask is not the only thing affecting this, but as far as I can see it’s the largest difference in our behavior. I’ve heard as well that wearing a respirator will reduce viral load should you be infected despite the filter, and so your sickness will be less severe, but I don’t have any evidence on hand for this.
Getting sick occasionally is good for your immune system if you do not have a condition like your wife.
Key word being occasionally, and also not with a disease that causes serious health complications, cognitive decline, and that itself damages your immune system.
COVID linked to 65% of new onset cognitive impairment, dementia
Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including significant drops in IQ scores
Every COVID Infection Increases Your Risk of Long COVID, Study Warns
SARS-CoV-2 infection weakens immune-cell response to vaccination
Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid
Cognitive performance of post-covid patients in mild, moderate, and severe clinical situations
Incidence of diabetes after SARS-CoV-2 infection in England and the implications of COVID-19 vaccination: a retrospective cohort study of 16 million people
Being outside is good for your immune system. Being near other people is unnecessary.
Don’t we need viruses to build resistance?
Exposure to one virus rarely leads to a resistance to another one. That’s why they have a new flu vaccine every year even though they’re all closely related. Cow pox immunizating against small pox was a fluke
It’s more about being exposed to everyday bacteria, pollen, and hot/cold cycling that gives your immune system exercise.
I was much more susceptible to sickness after wearing a mask for years on end during Covid.
Where did you live? I always wore a mask around other people, but I also live in a rural area, so I didn’t need to wear a mask for that many hours comparatively.
Also in a more rural area. After Covid was over I got pretty sick 4-5 times from just normal colds. What used to be a slight headache had me bedridden. This happened a few times but gradually improved.
Now years later my immune system is back up and running again.
The level of sick for which this is true is below the threshold of what we normally call “getting sick”. You’re always fighting off something. That’s what’s good for you. Not the getting overwhelmed and having to stay in bed amount.
Covid is a retrovirus. It destroys your immune system.