Facemask for Flu Prevention

The use of face masks goes up when a serious or deadly illness is spreading and there is no vaccine available. During the early 2009 outbreak of H1N1 flu, media showed people in Mexico, China and Hong Kong wearing face masks as they tried to keep themselves healthy. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that wearing a face mask can help protect the healthy from those who are sick with the flu.

Additional Protection

• Wearing a face mask when someone in your home has come down with the flu--seasonal or H1N1 2009--boosts your level of protection against the virus. Using either a particulate--PZ/N95--mask or a surgical mask can help you avoid getting the flu virus into your system. The PZ/N95 masks filter approximately 95 percent of all particulates that are three microns or larger.

  Giving yourself a physical form of protection against a virus that has the potential to become serious is one way you can protect yourself in the event of vaccine shortages. If you fall into a high-risk group (pregnancy, chronic health conditions, the very young or elderly), you live with someone who is at high risk, or you take care of an infant or elderly family member, giving yourself even one more form of protection could help shield you until you are able to receive your flu vaccinations.

  Face masks will protect you from the flu virus "to an extent," according to a report published by the Council of Canadian Academies. This report further says that face masks are the "final layer of protection when exposure to a sick person is unavoidable or required."

Flu Victims Wear Masks

• The CDC announced guidelines advising that face masks "should be considered" in the event of a flu pandemic. If someone in your home is already sick, you should make sure they don a mask until their level of contagion has gone down.

  Face masks prove their highest value in preventing those who are sick from spreading their illness to those who are still healthy, according to Sarah Cumberland of the World Health Organization. It is not necessary to wear a face mask to work. Your co-workers who are already sick with the flu are not able to come to work, which helps to keep the spread of illness down. You only need to wear a face mask if you are living with someone who is already sick or if you are sick and want to prevent spreading illness to others.

Masks Have to be Worn

• You need to actually wear the face mask if you want to give yourself that additional layer of protection or protect others should you get sick. Having a mask but not keeping it on does no good.

  If you want something a bit different, buy a designer face mask, such as an N95 surgical respirator mask with an original painting on it. You will pay more for the designer face masks than you would for plain masks, but you'll look better while still enjoying the same degree of protection.