Face Masks Did Not Work In 1918, 1957, 1968, 2002, 2004, And They Do Not Work Now
Reason #8 that Face Masks Hurt Kids
Dear Reader,
The wearing of a face mask to protect against a respiratory virus is an act of grand deceit. It is a behavior that defies research on the topic. Wearing a face mask, as this article (one of many) points to — is unsafe to do and is ineffective.
Until the narrative around mandatory masking has changed, each day by 6am Eastern, I will both post here and send out a science-based reason why no one should wear a face mask.
I ask that you help me circulate these pieces to those around you who you believe could most benefit from them. It is important not to remain silent on this topic. These are important discussions to be having with friends, family members, business owners, healthcare practitioners, public servants, and others in the community.
-Allan
There were influenza pandemics in the years 1918, 1957, 1968, 2002, 2004. Face mask use did not work during any previous pandemic to stop the spread of respiratory viruses because face masks do not stop the spread of a respiratory virus.
This is true no matter who wore them. It is true no matter what powers are inaccurately ascribed to face masks.
The same is true today.
Kai Kisielinski, in an April 20, 2021 article, in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, entitled “Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Every day Use and Free of Potential Hazards?”1 writes:
“The history of modern times shows that already in the influenza pandemics of 1918–1919, 1957–58, 1968, 2002, in SARS 2004–2005 as well as with the influenza in 2009, masks in everyday use could not achieve the hoped-for success in the fight against viral infection scenarios.2,3 The experiences led to scientific studies describing as early as 2009 that masks do not show any significant effect with regard to viruses in an everyday scenario.4,5 Even later, scientists and institutions rated the masks as unsuitable to protect the user safely from viral respiratory infections.6,7,8 Even in hospital use, surgical masks lack strong evidence of protection against viruses.”
What we have here is a preference for tradition over science, a preference for superstition over wisdom, a preference for the status quo over genuine evidence based inquiry and practice. Face masks do not work to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus. Rhetoric does not change that fact. Marketing does not change that fact. Talking heads cannot change that fact. That fact does not change no matter how many times the anti science crowd claims to be following the science.
We now have data more than a century old that show that face masks do not work to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus during pandemics. We have data that say they are not effective against Sars-Cov-2. We have data that says they do not work to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus in non-pandemic settings either. There is a phrase that has been a useful talking point from the anti-science crowd during 2020 and beyond: “Your mask protects me and my mask protects you.” While that sounds catchy, the years of data and research show that your mask does not help me and my mask does not help you.
In fact, there is overwhelming evidence that your mask is harmful to you and my mask, if I ever wore a mask, would be harmful to me. Furthermore, your mask may be harmful to me and my mask may be harmful to you.
Not only that, as Kisielinski points out, we have an absence of data for the usefulness of face masks in hospital settings. As the latter pages of this book show, there is even a strong argument to be made for masks to be removed from hospital settings, since masks are both harmful for the wearer AND for those around the wearer. This is especially true when the wearer is operating heavy machinery or engaging in complex tasks such as those required to treat a patient safely and effectively. Hospital care teams that were once unmasked have suddenly all been masked. This has been done despite the fact that there is a lack of evidence to support this behavior and substantial evidence against this behavior. Despite the constant insistence on “evidence based medicine,” so few talking heads are interested in this data. Consequently, a very dangerous situation has occurred as untrustworthy people in positions of authority make foolhardy proclamations over the population entirely contrary to available evidence. The impact a face mask has on the cognition of the wearer and the impact that creates on the patient in a hospital setting is a major unaddressed public health concern that has emerged since the Ides of March 2020. A century of sporadic data and two years of very precise, carefully collected, readily available data now shows this to be the case: face masks are not safe, face masks are not effective.
Kisielinski K, Giboni P, Prescher A, et al. Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(8):4344. doi:10.3390/ijerph18084344
Jacobs JL, Ohde S, Takahashi O, Tokuda Y, Omata F, Fukui T. Use of surgical face masks to reduce the incidence of the common cold among health care workers in Japan: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Infection Control. 2009;37(5):417-419. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2008.11.002
Cowling BJ, Chan K-H, Fang VJ, et al. Facemasks and Hand Hygiene to Prevent Influenza Transmission in Households. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2009;151(7):437. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-7-200910060-00142
Belkin NL. The Evolution of the Surgical Mask: Filtering Efficiency versus Effectiveness. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. 1997;18(1):49-57. doi:10.1086/647501
Neilson S. The surgical mask is a bad fit for risk reduction. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2016;188(8):606-607. doi:10.1503/cmaj.151236
Macintyre CR, Cauchemez S, Dwyer DE, et al. Face Mask Use and Control of Respiratory Virus Transmission in Households. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2009;15(2):233-241. doi:10.3201/eid1502.081166
Cowling BJ, Zhou Y, Ip DKM, Leung GM, Aiello AE. Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: a systematic review. Epidemiology and Infection. 2010;138(4):449-456. doi:10.1017/s0950268809991658
Institute of Medicine (US). Committee on Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Personnel to Prevent Transmission of Pandemic Influenza and Other Viral Respiratory Infections: Current Research Issues. In Preventing Transmission of Pandemic Influenza and Other Viral Respiratory Diseases: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Personnel: Update 2010; Larson, E.L., Liverman, C.T., Eds.; National Academies Press (US): Washington, DC, USA, 2011; ISBN 978-0- 309-16254-8.
The bestselling book "Face Masks In One Lesson" by Allan Stevo describes how to never wear a face mask again. The follow-up to the book, "Face Masks Hurt Kids," describes why to never wear a face mask again. We must defeat the awful, narrative around the mandates.
Examples of how face masks hurt kids will be posted to the Lockdown Land Substack each morning by 6am Eastern until the narrative around this ineffective and harmful medical intervention has shifted. Face masks are, in fact, not just harmful to children. Face masks are harmful to everyone. Thank you so much for helping me circulate this research.