[ExI] Could a face mask be a primitive form of vaccine?

[John Clark]

An editorial in the September 8 2020 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine suggests that a face mask greatly reduces but does not limit
entirely a person's exposure to COVID-19, and it is well known that very
small exposures to some deadly viruses can sometimes not make a person sick
but can sometimes confer immunity, so it is not unreasonable to suggest the
same thing might be true for COVID-19. The editorial presents some evidence
to suggest this could be true, it says among other things:

"*Countries **that have adapted population-wide masking have fared better
in terms of rates of severe Covid-related illnesses and death, which, in
environments with limited testing, suggests a shift from symptomatic to
asymptomatic infections.*"

And concludes with:

*"Ultimately, combating the pandemic will involve driving down both
transmission rates and severity of disease. Increasing evidence suggests
that population-wide facial masking might benefit both components of the
response."*

Facial Masking for Covid-19 — Potential for “Variolation” as We Await a
Vaccine <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913>

John K Clark
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