Use of Respiratory Protective Equipment during and after Lifting of Public Health Restrictions due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of non-specific measures of infectious disease prevention, including the use of respiratory protective equipment. Despite the improvement in the epidemiological situation and gradual lifting of public health restrictions, some people keep wearing face masks. Objective: To analyze the use of respiratory protective equipment in accordance with COVID-19 face mask requirements and after the end of the mask mandate among medical students in Moscow. Materials and methods: The questionnaire-based survey was conducted in two stages in March 2021 and in March–April 2022 among 988 and 830 third year students of the Institute of Clinical Medicine, Sechenov University, respectively, to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, the practice of wearing face masks in public places, and the incentives to use them. The observational study was carried out in March 2022 among 816 Russian and 96 foreign students by counting those wearing face masks in the classrooms. Results: We established that 97.5 % of the respondents used respiratory protective equipment during the period of restric-tive public health measures. The main reasons for doing that were a mask mandate due to coronavirus and the necessity of personal contacts with other people. The survey showed that masks were most often used in health facilities, supermarkets, pharmacies, subway, and at the university. During the first two weeks after abolishing mandatory wearing of face masks, 18.3 % of all the respondents continued their use, mainly out of concern for other people's health, of whom 9.9 % and 89.6 % were Russian and foreign medical students, respectively. The second survey demonstrated that 7.2 % of the Russian medical students kept wearing masks in some settings later on. In case of yet another increase in the COVID-19 incidence, 97.6 % of the respondents intend to use respiratory protective equipment and 74.7 % of them plan to recommend this preventive measure to their relatives. Study limitations: Due to the fact that only medical university students aged 20 to 23 took part in the research and in view of the short time period that had elapsed since lifting of masking requirements, it is of interest to survey various age and social population groups in a longer-term perspective. Conclusions: Medical students continue using respiratory protective equipment after the restrictions are lifted, mainly to pro-tect others. © Team of authors, 2022.

Safety and comfort of wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic among employees of transport companies

Introduction. Wearing a face mask causes adverse reactions in part of the population. These reactions can be associated with the workplace conditions. The study aims to analyze subjective reactions to the wearing of masks by employees of transport companies during the COVID–19 pandemic. Materials and methods. In September 2021 the researchers have conducted a survey of transport companies' workers in various regions of the Russian Federation. Specialists from Sechenov University have developed a questionnaire. The workers gave the subjective assessment of wearing comfort, frequency and severity of adverse reactions to wearing a mask: skin reactions, facial hyperhidrosis, breathing discomfort, and headache. Results. We have conducted a survey of 4,732 employees (72.3% men) who used non-woven, neoprene and cotton masks during the pandemic. The wearing comfort of workers with an energy consumption of less than 139 watts was significantly higher than that of all others. In workers with an energy consumption of 233–290 watts, almost all reactions were more pronounced compared to workers with the lowest energy consumption. In women, reactions appeared more often and were more pronounced than in men. In persons working in the warmest climatic region (IV), all reactions were the least pronounced, and comfort was maximal. Those working more than 12 hours a day noted a more frequent and pronounced appearance of all reactions compared to those working 8 hours. Wearing a mask was more comfortable for those working mainly indoors. Conclusion. Studies allow us to conclude that the portability of masks depends more on the level of energy consumption during operation. The climatic region, the duration of the work shift and the preferred place of work (indoors / outdoors) are somewhat less important. Limitations. In this study, scientists analyzed the effect of only working conditions on the appearance of adverse reactions to wearing a mask. We have not considered the influence of the mask material and the duration of its wearing, which is the topic of a separate publication. Experts have conducted the study only based on the analysis of subjective assessments of anonymous survey participants. During an objective examination, the dermatologist did not conduct an examination of the appearance of skin reactions. However, a large sample size allows us to draw reliable conclusions. Ethics. The study was approved by the local Ethics committee (Protocol No. 15-21 of 01.09.2021). © 2022, Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved.

ASSESSMENT OF BACTERIAL FILTRAITON AND AIR PERMEABILITY OF FACE MASKS USED BY PEOPLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 remains a serious threat to human health. Non-specific protection measures including face masks are an effective way to reduce risks of the infection spread. Face masks have different protective capacities and their effectiveness depends on an extent to which a material a mask is made of can retain droplets and aerosol particles containing the virus. Bacterial filtration can be used an as indicator showing how effectively a mask protects from contagion and air permeability can be used to estimate how comfortable it is to wear it.Our research aim was to comparatively assess effectiveness and comfort in wearing provided by masks which were most frequently used by people during the pandemic. We examined medical, cotton, and neoprene masks. Bacterial filtration was determined in accordance with the procedure stipulated in the State Standard GOST 12.4.136-84. Air permeability was estimated by determining how thin air was with VTPM-2 device produced by “Metroteks” LLC. All the data were statistically analyzed with StatTech v. 2.4.1 software package. We calculated quantitative indicators (M ± SD, 95 % CI for normal distribution), Fischer’s test (comparison between groups as per quantitative indicators) and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (directions and intensity of correlations). We developed our predictive model using linear regression. The research results indicate that the neoprene mask tends to have the highest bacterial filtration;the cotton mask, the highest air permeability. We detected a correlation between bacterial filtration and air permeability. All masks are quite comparable to a medical one as per all their combined examined characteristics and can be used as a barrier for mitigating risks of droplet infections spread. It is advisable to further investigate face masks with concentrating on more characteristics of their effectiveness, comfort in wearing and safety © Shashina E.A., Belova E.V., Gruzdeva O.A., Skopin A.Y., Andreev S.V., Zhernov Y.V., Zhukova A.V., Isiutina-Fedotkova T.S., Makarova V.V., Mitrokhin O.V., 2022

The use of the respiratory protective devices by the population during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. Wearing a face mask is an important measure against spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study was to analyze various aspects of the face masks use by the population during the pandemic. The questioner was used. Results. Almost all respondents (96.4%) wore respiratory protective devices during the pandemic;91.4% respondents worn face masks visiting grocery stores, pharmacies and medical organizations;64.0% — visiting non-food trade facilities;76.9% — travelling by surface transport, and 76.1% — being on the subway. Different types of face masks were used, 93.3% of respondents used disposable medical mask, 25.4% — reusable cloth masks. However, only 44.8% of respondents indicated that their protective equipment was made of non-woven material;26.1% did not know how many layers their protective equipment contained;about a third of respondents (20.1% — 30.21%) were not able to assess the effectiveness of different types of respiratory protection. A third of the respondents (33.6%) wore a disposable medical mask for 2 hours, 35.2% — more than 2 hours in one day, 28.0% — for several days. Conclusions. Most of the respondents wore the face mask. Disposable medical masks were most commonly used. Requirements for the duration of wearing of face masks were met by about third of the respondents, for the handling — half of the respondents. Spontaneous choice of face mask by respondents confirms the importance of the development of hygiene guideline for choosing the most effective respiratory protection. © AUTHORS, 2021.