ArticleScience (New York, N.Y.)2021
Face masks effectively limit the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Article in Science (New York, N.Y.), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 135 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
135 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Facial mask acute effects on affective/psychological and exercise performance responses during exercise: A meta-analytical review.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Pooled it
- Influence of face masks on the subjective impairment at different physical workloads.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Impact of community masking on COVID-19: A cluster-randomized trial in Bangladesh.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2022Trial
- Semi-transparent and eco-friendly face masks for PMNature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Risks and benefits of face masks in children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Mask wearing by COVID-19 index cases reduces SARS-CoV-2 transmission to household contacts.Epidemiology and infection · 2025Article
- Early Warning Signs for Monitoring Airborne Respiratory Virus Transmission.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Review
- Structural inequalities exacerbate infection disparities.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Review on Face Mask Recognition.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Exhaled Breath Analysis: From Laboratory Test to Wearable Sensing.IEEE reviews in biomedical engineering · 2025Review
- Role of Gut Microbiota in Long COVID: Impact on Immune Function and Organ System Health.Archives of microbiology & immunology · 2025Article
- Trends of respiratory viruses and factors associated with severe acute respiratory infection in patients presenting at a university hospital: a 6-year retrospective study across the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- An agent based simulation of COVID-19 history in Catalonia using extensive real datasets.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Implementation of facemask sampling for the detection of infectious individuals with SARS-CoV-2 in high stakes clinical examinations - a feasibility study.Future healthcare journal · 2024Article
- Comparing strategies for the mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 airborne infection risk in tiered auditorium venues.Communications engineering · 2024Article
- Back to Basics: The Diagnostic Value of a Complete Blood Count in the Clinical Management of COVID-19.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
75 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Airborne transmission by droplets and aerosols is important for the spread of viruses. Face masks are a well-established preventive measure, but their effectiveness for mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission is still under debate. We show that variations in mask efficacy can be explained by different regimes of virus abundance and related to population-average infection probability and reproduction number. For SARS-CoV-2, the viral load of infectious individuals can vary by orders of magnitude. We find that most environments and contacts are under conditions of low virus abundance (virus-limited) where surgical masks are effective at preventing virus spread. More advanced masks and other protective equipment are required in potentially virus-rich indoor environments including medical centers and hospitals. Masks are particularly effective in combination with other preventive measures like ventilation and distancing.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.