Nosocomial Covid19 Infection Reduced by Masks
Hospital and Aged Care facility Covid19 infection is a major killer of the most vulnerable. Yes, breathing on grandparents can kill them and those sharing their air.
As covered in my other articles12, Masks effectively capture Exhaled bacteria and Covid19 Virus carried in Aerosol and Droplet sized nutrient rich Saliva or Nasal Mucus which travel metres when simply talking, and of course much further coughing, and furhter again sneezing.3
Masks are designed to protect uninfected people from Infected people. Full independent air supply PPE is required to protect Healthcare workers from infected patients.
Did a quick search of Substack for other articles covering the subject and found some from 2021. Failure of jabs highlighted4, one from Russia5 , another with a focus on the helpless bedridden patients6 and one from UK7 in early 2022 and one from USA8. Please let me know if you find more so I can add them as references.
What is Nosocomial Infection?
Famous Nurse Dr John Campbell, neatly summarized it in his free e-book.9
Health-care and community acquired infections
Nosocomial describes infections which are contracted in hospital or as a result of health care interventions. Health-care acquired infection (HAI) is an alternative term which means the same. The combination of the close proximity of compromised patients with health care workers going from patient to patient means any infections present may spread. In addition the extensive use of antibiotics means resistant strains may develop and spread. While vulnerable patients are at particular risk, staff may also contract infections while at work.
Commonly encountered hospital acquired infections include Clostridium difficile, viral gastroenteritis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Other risks include viral hepatitis, HIV and tuberculosis. The converse of health-care acquired (or nosocomial) is community acquired. This describes any infection which is contracted, out of the health care setting, in the placeswhere people live and work.
In the same book, Dr Campbell makes it clear that Tuberculosis is transmitted in droplets simply by the act of Talking.
St George's Hospital, London Mask Poster
In recent days, an abstract10 of a conference paper at first sight claiming Masks have little impact on Nosocomial Covid19 Transmission attracted feverish attention.11
However I suggest that has been misinterpreted.
What the paper actually demonstrates is Perfect Correlation between the measured Covid19 Infection rate of Staff and Visitors (Red) and resultant Nosocomial (Hospital Acquired, Green) infection in the wards.
I will wait to see any subsequent publication from Patterson et al. to expand on their study, however based on the scant detail in the abstract, I see no mention of crucial information:
Which types of ward were excluded?
Number of beds per ward studied
Air conditioning provisions
Number of infected visitors per patient.
Reverse Nosocomial Infection
As Dr Campbell highlights in his book, Reverse Nosocomial Infection, i.e. Visitors and Staff becoming infected in the wards, is a major cause of Pandemic spread.
An excellent paper from Israel shows how one infected Covid19 patient infected numerous staff in a densely packed Hospital.12
Meir Medical Center has 780 beds, most rooms accommodate three to four patients, 1 m apart with separation curtain partitions between beds. Starting in March 2020, patients have been encouraged to wear surgical masks. Although use was inconsistent, it was enforced during patient–staff encounters for both sides. On the dedicated COVID-19 ward, dedicated staff members worked with full personal protective equipment (PPE): N-95 mask, face shield, gown, gloves and hair cover.
The patient was admitted with fever and cough and placed in a room with three other patients. On admission day, the index case was not tested for SARS-CoV-2, because their symptoms were mistaken for possible bloodstream infection exacerbating congestive heart failure.
Numerous Failures of Due Diligence here. The article makes no mention of the air conditioning but demonstrates complete Failure of Jabbing
The calculated attack rate among all exposed patients and staff was 10.6% (16/151) for staff and 23.7% (23/97) for patients, in a population with 96.2% vaccination rate (238 vaccinated/248 exposed individuals).
Jayaweera M, et al. 2020. Transmission of COVID-19 virus by droplets and aerosols: A critical review on the unresolved dichotomy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342157309_Transmission_of_COVID-19_virus_by_droplets_and_aerosols_A_critical_review_on_the_unresolved_dichotomy
J Campbell. Pathophysiology Notes. https://drjohncampbell.co.u
Patterson B, Mehra R and Breathnach A. 2023. ECCMID 2023, abstract 5979 Unmasking the mask: a time-series analysis of nosocomial COVID-19 rates before and after removal
Shitrit P, et al. 2021. Nosocomial outbreak caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in a highly vaccinated population, Israel, July 2021 https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.39.2100822
I used to cover my mouth or look away when talking while having a cold / being worried about developing one. Common sense just always told me that shielding people I speak to from my droplets must reduce the risk to transmit whatever microorganisms contained therein.