Evolution Of Fmask

A very interesting story which resulted into an important medical practice of using "Face Masks” in operation theatre.

This is a photograph of an operation theatre, of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia taken in 1902. It shows a scene where a patient is on operation table, and surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurses are standing near him. Few spectators are sitting in the amphitheater behind the operation table.

The most striking feature of this photo is that nobody in the OT ( Surgeon, his assistants, Nurses, and spectators) was wearing a mask. None of the surgeon and his assistants was using the gloves.

A medical student sitting in the amphitheater as a spectator, observed a curious thing. He observed that when the light was from a certain direction, he could see from his seat, a continuous spray of saliva coming from the mouth of the surgeon while he talked to the class & conducted his operation.

This medical student told this observation to his teacher, Dr Alice Hamilton. Dr Alice Hamilton, a teacher in the institute conducted research on this. She kept a culture plate on a table while the surgeon sham operated and spoke up to 500 words, an average of 75 bacterial colonies were identified that contained Streptococci, Diplococci, Staphylococci and other bacteria and half of them were harmful.

She also observed that talking released droplets up to 24 cms while with coughing it was 36 cms. Whispering produced more droplets than talking.

She concluded that this spray of saliva through the mouth of surgeon can cause harmful wound infection to the patient getting operated.

She published an article in JAMA 1905. She advised that surgeon and nurses should use a mask to cover their mouths so that this infection is prevented.

When this practice of using the mask in Operation Theater was followed, no wound infection occurred in the following 8 months.

In 1910-1911, a pneumonic plague epidemic occurred in Manchuria, where more than 50000 people died. This plague was not transmitted by rats or fleas, but by airborne droplets.
People were advised to use the masks and gauze masks were found to be protective during this epidemic.

During the pandemic of Spanish Flu 1918, several million people died. People of San Francisco were advised to use masks along with social distancing. This measure was effective in preventing infection of 20000 cases and 1500 deaths in San Francisco.

A ship was traveling from New York to Southampton in 1918-1919. Nobody was using mask, and 100 people were infected during the journey. In the return journey mask use was made compulsory by the captain, and no infection occurred in return journey.

This interesting story of evolution of masks tells us that how a simple measure can be very effective in preventing the spread of dreadful epidemic such as Spanish flu as well as recent Covid-19 pandemic.

PLEASE USE MASKS ALL THE TIME NOW.....

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