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Microbiologist Dr. Rich Davis did an experiment that shows how wearing a surgical mask and keeping distance can influence the spread of microbes. He posted the results of the experiment on Twitter, and his post became a viral.
- Many of us are tired of the obligation to cover our nose and mouth, which is especially troublesome in the summer. We also have a problem with maintaining social distance
- Microbiologist Dr. Rich Davis presented in a simple way why wearing masks makes sense
- As he says, his experiment is only a demonstration, it does not show the process of breeding and spreading the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but still gives food for thought
Why does wearing a mask make sense?
The dispute over who, why and when should wear a mask or other mouth and nose cover is still ongoing. In South Korea there are fights between bus passengers who do not respect the requirement to wear masks and drivers. In Poland, the obligation to wear masks in open space arises when you cannot keep distance from other people
- Check the latest data on the range of the coronavirus in Poland and in the world
Many people question the wearing of mouth and nose guards and social distancing, which is especially evident when queuing at the checkout in the store. Dr. Rich Davis, a microbiologist and director of the microbiology clinical laboratory at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, set out to conduct a simple experiment that shows if and why wearing masks and keeping distance makes more sense than we think.
Davis prepared two sets of petri dishes filled with agar that are used to grow the bacteria. Then he did four steps, bending over the tiles – talking for a minute, singing for a minute, sneezing and coughing twice. During these activities, he once wore a mask and the second time without a mask.
He then placed the marked dishes in an incubator for 24 hours and allowed them to grow. After removing the plates, he compared them with each other. What was the result?
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The masks retain some of the microorganisms
The first set (facial mask) was clearly “cleaner” than the second set, for which Davis did not use the mask. The biggest differences are seen in sneezing and coughing. Comparing the two plates (mask and without the mask), it is clear that when the mask is worn, less microorganisms got onto the plate.
Davis conducted a similar experiment, this time using social distance. He set up open Petri dishes prepared for bacterial cultivation at a distance of 60 cm, 120 cm and 182 cm (two, four and six feet) and coughed intensely for 15 seconds – first with a mask and then without it.
After 24 hours, he compared the tiles. It is clear that in the test without a mask, droplets of body fluids most often “landed” on the first plate, 60 cm away from Davis. On the last, farthest plate, a single colony of bacteria (visible to the naked eye) can be observed.
Dishes that have been prepared with the mask have virtually no colonies of bacteria, no matter how far they are from the coughing microbiologist.
Davis explained that his experiment is only a demonstration and is not a way to grow viruses or model the spread of SARS-CoV-2. It also does not compare the effectiveness of different types of masks. However, it shows in a simple way how wearing a mask can prevent the spread of large drops of body fluid.
“The stains on the plates we see are colonies of thousands of bacteria that have multiplied enough to be seen with the naked eye,” Davis told a KHQ reporter.
Admittedly, this simple demonstration is food for thought.
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