At first when I saw this article, I freaked out. I've been telling some of the people I know here that there is no real point in wearing these masks as a preventative measure in public.
Even though EVERBODY here does it. It's scary. It creeps me out. It's like I'm in a horror movie and the other shoe's going to drop any second.
But then I read the article, and they're talking about people who already *have* the flu wearing the masks to prevent transmission. Well, that makes total and complete sense. And I am vindicated by this line:"It's still not clear whether healthy people who wear face masks in public can prevent themselves from getting the flu."
The point is that yes, if someone is sick and coughing and you're in their immediate vicinity, it will help. And it will help prevent a coughing person from spreading fine virus-filled droplets that hang in the air and can be inhaled. But it's not really going to do much in wide open spaces, or even in movie theatres, if there's nobody sick around. It's more important to wash your hands. Viruses are tough little boogers and can stick around on surfaces for a while. You touch the surface, you touch your face...SWINEFLU2009.
Maybe all of this is just me trying to make myself feel better. I had an upper respiratory tract illness a few weeks ago, complete with cough, and people treated me as though I had the plague. I have never been self-conscious about coughing before, but I would get actual dirty looks if I had the gall to cough in public. One time, I was standing in line at the movie theatre for Harry Potter, and I coughed, and the guy behind us in line literally ran away from me. He left the line and bolted. Elena immediately doubled over laughing and as we looked over at the guy, he started laughing too. The paranoia - it's intense!
I look forward to coughing wherever I please when I return to the States.
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