Comments
A team of researchers has recommended daily washing of cloth masks at high temperatures in order to reduce contamination, or transmission of various pathogens, as per a study published in the journal News: Medical Life Sciences .
The researchers of the study analysed the previous randomised controlled trials (RCT) in hospitals to check the effectiveness of cloth masks vs medical masks. In the earlier study, which was carried out in 2015, the researchers found that cloth masks resulted in a higher risk of respiratory infections.
Now, the researchers carried a post hoc analysis to know the reason behind the poor performance of two-layered cloth masks.
The team found after their analysis that if cloth masks were washed in the hospital laundry, they were as effective as surgical or medical masks.
Contamination risk
Professor Raina MacIntyre, study co-author, said in a statement: “Both cloth masks and surgical masks should be considered ‘contaminated’ after use. Unlike surgical masks, which are disposed of after use, cloth masks are re-used. While it can be tempting to use the same mask for multiple days in a row or to give it a quick hand-wash or wipe-over, our research suggests that this increases the risk of contamination.”
The researchers also noted that viral contamination with rhinovirus was present in both the masks.
They also found that the risk of infection becomes two-fold if the masks are washed by hand, compared to masks that were washed in the hospital laundry.
Further, the team discovered that there was no difference between surgical or medical masks and cloth masks that were washed in the hospital laundry.
Professor MacIntyre mentioned that washing machines often have a default temperature of 40 degrees or 60 degrees. However, at these very hot temperatures, hand-washing is not possible.
The clear message from this research is that cloth masks do work — but once a cloth mask has been worn, it needs to be washed each time properly before being worn again; otherwise, it stops being effective, she added.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.