Army of two masks please kill me how to#
Yet even though this scientific consensus rejected masks as effective in 1918, we can learn from history how to respond to COVID-19 and future outbreaks of infectious diseases.įirst, most Americans in 1918 misunderstood the purpose of wearing a mask. Jordan also acknowledged, however, that “masks are uncomfortable and inconvenient, as anyone who has worn them can testify” and require a great deal of “discipline, self-imposed or other.” Jordan came to a more guarded conclusion: “The effect of mask wearing throughout the general community is not easy to determine.” Learning From History
Army of two masks please kill me series#
In 1927, Edwin Jordan’s definitive study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association as a series of articles and then as a book, determined that masks were effective when worn by patients already sick or by those directly exposed to victims, including nurses and physicians. Vaughn declared “the efficacy of face masks is still open to question.” The problem was human behavior: Masks were used until they were filthy, worn in ways that offered little or no protection, and compulsory laws did not overcome the “failure of cooperation on the part of the public.” Vaughn’s sobering conclusion: “It is safe to say that the face mask as used was a failure.” In a comprehensive study published in 1921, Warren T. Kellogg found the evidence persuasive: “The case against the mask as a measure of compulsory application for the control of epidemics appears to be complete.” Masks were used most frequently out in public, where they were least effective, whereas masks were removed when people went inside to work or socialize, where they were most likely to be infected. In 1919, Wilfred Kellogg’s study for the California State Board of Health concluded that mask ordinances “applied forcibly to entire communities” did not decrease cases and deaths, as confirmed by comparisons of cities with widely divergent policies on masking. In December 1918, the American Public Health Association recommended that the “wearing of proper masks” should be compulsory for medical staff, occupations such as “barbers, dentists, etc.,” and “all who are directly exposed to infection.” The committee also found, however, that the evidence “as to beneficial results consequent on the enforced wearing of masks by the entire population at all times was contradictory,” and thus the committee did not recommend “the widespread adoption of this practice.” The committee did recommend that persons “who desire to wear masks” should be “instructed as to how to make and wear proper masks, and encouraged to do so.” Evaluating The Use Of Masksĭid masks prevent the spread of influenza? Experts reviewing evidence from 1918 concluded that flu masks failed to control infection. Within weeks, however, as the number of cases and deaths decreased, recommendations and even regulations to wear masks were relaxed and then eliminated. Violators could be ticketed, fined, and imprisoned. Most famously, San Francisco, California, along with other Western cities such as Seattle, Washington, Juneau, Alaska, and Phoenix, Arizona, passed laws requiring masks in public. The transition from recommending masks for health care providers to encouraging and even requiring masks in public happened gradually and inconsistently. Masks were just one of the “ non-pharmaceutical interventions” or “ social distancing” policies, to use modern terms, adopted to contain the epidemic, along with closing schools, prohibiting public gatherings, and advising changes in personal behavior. Newspapers provided instructions on “ How to Make Masks at Home” and published photographs of masked nurses. The lessons from the 1918 influenza epidemic for local, state, and federal health officials are clear: Masks must be constructed and worn correctly, wearing masks in public must be part of a comprehensive social distancing strategy, masks are essential for certain care-taking occupations, and the psychological benefits of seeing everyone wearing masks helps raise awareness about disease transmission.įrom the earliest recognition that a more deadly form of influenza was spreading quickly in fall 1918, US public health authorities recommended masks for doctors, nurses, and anyone taking care of influenza patients. Masks failed in 1918 to control the spread of influenza, but lessons learned from this epidemic should inspire us to wear masks in response to COVID-19.Īdvocates of “ Masks for All” can learn from the 1918 epidemic: Although masks did not prevent the spread of influenza, understanding why they failed provides further evidence that wearing masks in public only works in conjunction with broader efforts to change behavior, interactions, and attitudes.
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