Correctly worn Ffp2s reduce the risk of coronavirus infection to 0.1% and protect yourself as well as others, according to a German study
the Ffp22 bezels have become mandatory in Italy in certain contexts such as on board airplanes and trains where the residence time can be long, and also on public transport where distancing cannot be guaranteed, as well as in cinemas, theaters, stadiums.
But do the Ffp2 masks really defend us from Covid-19, and in particular from the highly contagious Omicron variant?
The answer is confirmed by numerous studies, including recent ones.
FFP stands for face filtrant, facial filter and according to the European standard the efficiency ranges from 1 to 3. Ffp2 filters on average 94% of all aerosols (between 92 and 98%), including airborne viruses such as Covid-19.
These masks disposable (can be worn eight hours before changing them) are composed by several layers of different fabrics, among which there is a polypropylene filter capable of trapping even the smallest airborne particles.
The Ffp2 (and the even more performing Ffp3) have a higher filtering capacity than normal surgical masks (which retain only the largest aerosol particles of the wearer: in short, they protect others, much more than the wearer) and beyond to protect others, they also protect the wearer and are particularly suitable for closed or crowded places, where the risk of transmissibility is highest.
The Ffp2 masks have a high filtering power at the outlet and towards the wearer (over 90%), unlike surgical masks which reach a maximum of 20% at the entrance and therefore are scarcely effective for the wearer in protecting himself .
Same as for surgical masks the effectiveness of the Ffp2 depends on how they are worn. A study published in December by the Max Planck Institute, a German research organization, and cited by The Economist, explained that if you take two people who are three meters away from each other, one not vaccinated and the other positive for Covid, in less than five minutes the person without the vaccine will be infected with almost 100% certainty.
But if the same people wear the Ffp2 masks correctly the risk of contracting the virus is reduced to 0.1%.
In detail whether both the coronavirus positive and the non-infected person wear well-fitting Ffp2 masks, the maximum risk of infection after 20 minutes is just over one per thousand, even at a shorter distance.
If their masks are worn incorrectly, the likelihood of infection increases to around 4%, however greatly reducing the risk of infection.
Another recent study published in Jama Interna Medicine compared the filtering capacities of different types of masks, discovering that the cloth or surgical masks had an efficiency in containing viral particles ranging between 26% and 79% while the Ffp2 had a filtering capacity of 98.4%.
The problem of the Ffp2 which in addition to being more expensive are also more tiring to wear, they are less tolerated and make breathing more difficult.
To overcome the problem, those with the valve which guarantee greater comfort for the wearer, although they do not protect the people around them and thus would have an opposite function to surgical ones.
January 2, 2022 (change January 2, 2022 | 10:56)
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