While the April 2020 guideline highlighted the dangers of self-contamination, possible breathing difficulties and false sense of security, the June 2020 guideline found additional potential adverse effects such as headache, development of facial skin lesions, irritant dermatitis, acne or increased risk of contamination in public spaces due to improper mask disposal. Īccordingly, the WHO did not recommend general or uncritical use of masks for the general population and expanded its risk and hazard list within just two months. Another meta-analysis conducted in the same year confirmed the weak scientific evidence for masks. While maintaining a distance of at least one meter showed moderate evidence with regard to the spreading of SARS-CoV-2, only weak evidence at best could be found for masks alone in everyday use (non-medical setting). ![]() In a meta-analysis study commissioned by the WHO (evidence level Ia), no clear, scientifically graspable benefit of moderate or strong evidence was derived from wearing masks. In June 2020, they changed this recommendation to endorse the general use of masks in, e.g., crowded places. In April 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of masks only for symptomatic, ill individuals and health care workers and did not recommend its widespread use. The initial assumption was that the pandemic emergency measures were set in place to reduce the acute threat of the public health system effectively and swiftly. Extended mask-wearing by the general population could lead to relevant effects and consequences in many medical fields.Īt the beginning of the spread of the novel pathogen SARS-CoV-2, it was necessary to make far-reaching decisions even without available explicit scientific data. We objectified evaluation evidenced changes in respiratory physiology of mask wearers with significant correlation of O 2 drop and fatigue ( p < 0.05), a clustered co-occurrence of respiratory impairment and O 2 drop (67%), N95 mask and CO 2 rise (82%), N95 mask and O 2 drop (72%), N95 mask and headache (60%), respiratory impairment and temperature rise (88%), but also temperature rise and moisture (100%) under the masks. In this paper, we refer to the psychological and physical deterioration as well as multiple symptoms described because of their consistent, recurrent and uniform presentation from different disciplines as a Mask-Induced Exhaustion Syndrome (MIES). The literature revealed relevant adverse effects of masks in numerous disciplines. ![]() For a quantitative evaluation, 44 mostly experimental studies were referenced, and for a substantive evaluation, 65 publications were found. The aim was to find, test, evaluate and compile scientifically proven related side effects of wearing masks. ![]() Up until now, there has been no comprehensive investigation as to the adverse health effects masks can cause. Many countries introduced the requirement to wear masks in public spaces for containing SARS-CoV-2 making it commonplace in 2020.
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