Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37130944›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2023

Filtration efficiency of medical and community face masks using viral and bacterial bioaerosols.

Sana Djeghdir, Aurélien Peyron, Gwendoline Sarry, Lara Leclerc, Ghalia Kaouane, Paul O Verhoeven, Jérémie Pourchez

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Assessing the behavior of food handlers wearing face masks and the passage of bacteria through disposable masks.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Sana DjeghdirÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Mines Saint-Etienne, INSERM, U1059 Sainbiose, Centre CIS, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, 158 Cours Fauriel, CS 62362, 42023, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France.
Aurélien PeyronÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Mines Saint-Etienne, INSERM, U1059 Sainbiose, Centre CIS, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, 158 Cours Fauriel, CS 62362, 42023, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France.
Gwendoline SarryÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Mines Saint-Etienne, INSERM, U1059 Sainbiose, Centre CIS, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, 158 Cours Fauriel, CS 62362, 42023, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France.
Lara LeclercÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Mines Saint-Etienne, INSERM, U1059 Sainbiose, Centre CIS, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, 158 Cours Fauriel, CS 62362, 42023, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France.
Ghalia KaouaneÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Mines Saint-Etienne, INSERM, U1059 Sainbiose, Centre CIS, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, 158 Cours Fauriel, CS 62362, 42023, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France.
Paul O VerhoevenGIMAP Team, CIRI, Centre International de Recherche en InfectiologieInserm, U1111, CNRS, UMR5308, ENS Lyon, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
Jérémie PourchezÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Mines Saint-Etienne, INSERM, U1059 Sainbiose, Centre CIS, Université de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, 158 Cours Fauriel, CS 62362, 42023, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France. pourchez@emse.fr.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Face masks are often recommended in community settings to prevent the airborne transmission of respiratory viruses or bacteria. Our first objective was to develop an experimental bench to assess the viral filtration efficiency (VFE) of a mask with a methodology similar to the normative measurement of bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) used to determine the filtration performance of medical masks. Then, using three categories of masks of increasing filtration quality (two types of community masks and one type of medical mask), filtration performances measured ranged from 61.4 to 98.8% of BFE and from 65.5 to 99.2% of VFE. A strong correlation (r = 0.983) between bacterial and viral filtration efficiency was observed for all types of masks and for the same droplets size in the 2-3 µm range. This result confirms the relevance of the EN14189:2019 standard using bacterial bioaerosols to evaluate mask filtration, to also extrapolate mask performances whatever their filtration quality against viral bioaerosols. Indeed, it appears that the filtration efficiency of masks (for micrometer droplet sizes and low bioaerosol exposure times) depends mainly on the size of the airborne droplet, rather than on the size of the infectious agent contained in that droplet.

Indexed as

FiltrationMasksBacteria

Identifiers

PMID37130944
PMCPMC10152419

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.