If you want to nitpick the wording of some of the conclusions, knock your socks off, but I think you're missing the big picture. We've been told over and over that the gold standard is RCTs. The vaccines are "safe and effective", the RCTs said so. The Ivermectin evidence is inconclusive; the clinical experience of real doctors saving actual patients is nothing compared to our (rigged) RCT. So if RCTs are the standard, it seems reasonable that we should accept the results of mask RCTs and let the evidence dictate what we believe is true and what policy should be rather than the other way around.
With this Cochrane study, we now we have a comprehensive review of dozens of studies including RCTs, and
the data itself says that we cannot say that masks prevent transmission. That's how these things work. It's not question of maybe; the results are in and the answer is NO. If you refuse to accept that, then you might as well throw out every RCT including those of the beloved Covid vaxxines. "Science" remember. So let's compare that to the official narrative which is that masks are effective for respiratory viruses like Covid. That narrative is false and in fact was known to be false long before Covid. Remember those bogus non-controlled studies trumpeted by the CDC during the pandemic? That was misinformation. Studies for years have shown this (some of them are in the Cochrane review IIRC) and Fauci famously said as much on CBS and in private correspondence at the beginning of the pandemic.
You still think the Cochrane study still suggests masks are effective? Let's dig deeper.
Four studies were in healthcare workers, and one small study was in the community. Compared with wearing medical or surgical masks, wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (5 studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu-like illness (5 studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (3 studies; 7799 people). Think about what this is saying. Do we really think the cloth masks grandma and little Joey were wearing in various improper ways made any difference whatsoever?
Check out this presentation by an industrial hygienist on the failure of masks, especially slides 21-22, and ask that question again.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1_Petty_New_Hampshire_Legislature_Presentation_January_27_2022.pdfThey lied to us. They lied to us to stoke fear and create a compliant, obedient populus, and it worked. When I pick up my kid at the high school, I still see healthy teenagers wearing masks...outside on a sunny day. WTH.
The fearmongering for control purposes was reason enough to decry the mask mandates, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. They completely ignored the negative side effects of the masks. Children especially need to see facial expressions. My sister, a speech pathologist, tells me there is an explosion of kids with speech problems due in large part to the masks. Then there is the medical consequences of masking, again completely ignored by the authoritarian medical narrative spinners. Granted, these effects are not experienced by everyone, but the masks mandates were inescapable regardless of a person's health condition and ability to cope with them. (see research below)
I'm not one of those raging anti-maskers. I complied without a fuss just like most people because even though I knew it was not protecting me or anyone else, the masks were a minor inconvenience and it made other people feel safer. But that in no way excuses what the authoritarian health czars did. The masks were not effective, they caused harm, and they divided the country. It was a stupid, cynical policy that set back trust (and rightly so) in our health authorities. And people wonder why wild conspiracy theories flourish. This is a major reason. Average folks can't evaluate the evidence for themselves, but they do know that they have been lied to and cannot trust the system so they are susceptible to any crazy idea that they find on the internet. And be assured, when there is a real medical threat, and the authorities actually are telling the truth, these people won't be listening then either. Once credibility is lost, it's very hard to regain. The boy cried wolf one too many times.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1125150/fullBackground: As face masks became mandatory in most countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, adverse effects require substantiated investigation.
Methods: A systematic review of 2,168 studies on adverse medical mask effects yielded 54 publications for synthesis and 37 studies for meta-analysis (on
n = 8,641,
m = 2,482,
f = 6,159, age = 34.8 12.5). The median trial duration was only 18 min (IQR = 50) for our comprehensive evaluation of mask induced physio-metabolic and clinical outcomes.
Results: We found significant effects in both medical surgical and N95 masks, with a greater impact of the second. These effects included decreased SpO2 (overall Standard Mean Difference, SMD = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.38 to 0.11,
p < 0.001) and minute ventilation (SMD = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.99 to 0.46,
p < 0.001), simultaneous increased in blood-CO2 (SMD = +0.64, 95% CI = 0.310.96,
p < 0.001), heart rate (N95: SMD = +0.22, 95% CI = 0.030.41,
p = 0.02), systolic blood pressure (surgical: SMD = +0.21, 95% CI = 0.030.39,
p = 0.02), skin temperature (overall SMD = +0.80 95% CI = 0.231.38,
p = 0.006) and humidity (SMD +2.24, 95% CI = 1.323.17,
p < 0.001). Effects on exertion (overall SMD = +0.9, surgical = +0.63, N95 = +1.19), discomfort (SMD = +1.16), dyspnoea (SMD = +1.46), heat (SMD = +0.70), and humidity (SMD = +0.9) were significant in
n = 373 with a robust relationship to mask wearing (
p < 0.006 to
p < 0.001). Pooled symptom prevalence (
n = 8,128) was significant for: headache (62%,
p < 0.001), acne (38%,
p < 0.001), skin irritation (36%,
p < 0.001), dyspnoea (33%,
p < 0.001), heat (26%,
p < 0.001), itching (26%,
p < 0.001), voice disorder (23%,
p < 0.03), and dizziness (5%,
p = 0.01).
Discussion: Masks interfered with O2-uptake and CO2-release and compromised respiratory compensation. Though evaluated wearing durations are shorter than daily/prolonged use, outcomes independently validate mask-induced exhaustion-syndrome (MIES) and down-stream physio-metabolic disfunctions. MIES can have long-term clinical consequences, especially for vulnerable groups. So far, several mask related symptoms may have been misinterpreted as long COVID-19 symptoms. In any case, the possible MIES contrasts with the WHO definition of health.
Conclusion: Face mask side-effects must be assessed (risk-benefit) against the available evidence of their effectiveness against viral transmissions. In the absence of strong empirical evidence of effectiveness, mask wearing should not be mandated let alone enforced by law.