Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38821778›Full record

ArticleEBioMedicine2024

Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with SARS-CoV-2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental study.

Jianyu Lai, Kristen K Coleman, S-H Sheldon Tai, Jennifer German, Filbert Hong, Barbara Albert, Yi Esparza, Dewansh Rastogi, Aditya Srikakulapu, Petri Kalliomäki and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EBioMedicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing 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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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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

20 authors.

Jianyu LaiMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Kristen K ColemanMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
S-H Sheldon TaiMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Jennifer GermanMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Filbert HongMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Barbara AlbertMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Yi EsparzaMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Dewansh RastogiDepartment of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Aditya SrikakulapuMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Petri KalliomäkiMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Maria SchanzMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Alycia A SmithMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Isabel Sierra MaldonadoMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Molly OertelMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Naja FadulMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
T Louie GoldMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Kathleen McPhaulMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Tianzhou MaDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA.
Benjamin J CowlingWorld Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Donald K MiltonMaryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA. Electronic address: dmilton@umd.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTight-fitting masks and respirators, in manikin studies, improved aerosol source control compared to loose-fitting masks. Whether this translates to humans is not known.

methodsWe compared efficacy of masks (cloth and surgical) and respirators (KN95 and N95) as source control for SARS-CoV-2 viral load in exhaled breath of volunteers with COVID-19 using a controlled human experimental study. Volunteers (N = 44, 43% female) provided paired unmasked and masked breath samples allowing computation of source-control factors.

findingsAll masks and respirators significantly reduced exhaled viral load, without fit tests or training. A duckbill N95 reduced exhaled viral load by 98% (95% CI: 97%-99%), and significantly outperformed a KN95 (p < 0.001) as well as cloth and surgical masks. Cloth masks outperformed a surgical mask (p = 0.027) and the tested KN95 (p = 0.014).

interpretationThese results suggest that N95 respirators could be the standard of care in nursing homes and healthcare settings when respiratory viral infections are prevalent in the community and healthcare-associated transmission risk is elevated.

fundingDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Flu Lab.

Indexed as

COVID-19MasksN95 RespiratorsSARS-CoV-2Viral LoadAdultAerosolsBreath TestsExhalationFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRespiratory Aerosols and DropletsVirus SheddingAerosolsExhaled breath aerosolsRespiratorsSARS-CoV-2Source controlSurgical masks

Identifiers

PMID38821778
PMCPMC11245760

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.