Some specialists demanded it in our columns from mid-March. Health authorities are now recommending the widespread use of the mask, notably by the voice of Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon. But like the World Health Organization (WHO) before them, infectious diseases do not believe in a quick fix to counter the coronavirus.
Why favor its port on the scale of the whole population?
Knowledge about the disease evolves over time, including how it is transmitted. If the authorities agree that the virus is mainly transmitted by respiratory route and by physical contact, the ability of the coronavirus to be transmitted via expired air is the subject of much speculation. But this transmission by "aerosols", these micro-droplets emitted when we speak and not when we cough, is not yet scientifically proven. "It is especially the question of supply that has changed the question," says Professor François Bricaire infectiologist, former head of department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, and member of the Academy of Medicine. The fact that manufacturing is increasing in particular, and that it is getting easier to get it, ”he continues.
In a week, according to the Ministry of the Economy, 3.9 million protective masks in fabrics were manufactured in France, and 6.6 million should be this week. “If I cough in my hands, touch a seat on the subway, someone can get the virus. This is what is problematic, more than the fantastical projection of a virus that walks in the air, "recalls Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, head of the clinical immunology service at Henri-Mondor hospital ( Val de Marne). "It will be effective if in front of you someone starts to cough 15 times or laugh in front of you," he recalls.
What masks are we talking about?
These are so-called “alternative” masks, which are not surgical or of the FFP2 category, which continue to be reserved for caregivers. They are sometimes made "house", with fabric and using patterns, and could for some, be distributed in pharmacies, as called by their wishes the Order of pharmacists and the two main unions of the profession in a press release this Tuesday.
They want these alternative masks to be “included in the category” of “individual respiratory protection equipment”, or in “the list of goods that can be sold in pharmacies”, in order to be able to respond to the new doctrine of the health authorities.
Are they effective?
But these "homemade" masks have sometimes been deemed ineffective in the past. "It will depend on what they are going to be made: a bandana, a mask with tight mesh, or not ... it can be effective, it can slow the epidemic yes, but it is not a guarantee because nothing will control that the mask is impervious to the virus, ”said Professor Bricaire. “What will really be interesting is at the time of deconfinement. Having masks worn will make it possible to minimize the risk of contamination on sensitive people ”, according to the infectiologist.
"Yes, the mask is part of the solution. But it has to be understood. This will not be able to solve everything, ”agrees Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, who recalls the importance of barrier gestures. A warning also formulated by the WHO. “There is no binary answer, no quick fix. Masks alone cannot curb the Covid-19 pandemic, "said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday during a virtual press conference from Geneva.
Because for Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, the question also arises over time. "How long are we going to wear these masks?" If there are not enough people immunized because they have been infected, and without a vaccine, we risk needing it for months, ”he worries.
