HONG KONG / SIANGAN /, May 18. / TASS /. Scientists from the University of Hong Kong have proven the effectiveness of using protective masks to prevent coronavirus infection. As the newspaper reported on Monday The standard, an experiment with hamsters helped them in this.
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A group of microbiologists led by Professor Ewen Kwok-yun applied a special design consisting of several cells where rodent groups were placed. With the help of fans, the situation of the spread of the virus from sick animals to healthy ones was simulated, while partitions from ordinary surgical masks were used.
In the first experiment, which took place without the use of partitions, coronavirus infection was transmitted during the week to eight out of 12 healthy hamsters. In this case, the probability of contactless infection was 67%.
When a mask barrier was installed in a cell in rodent carriers of the virus, only two out of a dozen healthy hamsters from a neighboring cage were infected (17%). And when the scientists moved the masked fence from a cage with infected hamsters to a cage with healthy rodents, they identified only three out of 12 diseased hamsters (25% chance).
Doctors also found that the viral load in the body of infected animals whose cages were enclosed by a mask was up to ten times lower than the load of hamsters lacking such protection.
Commenting on the results, Professor Ewan Kwok-young noted that some experts are skeptical about the effectiveness of masks in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. “However, our experiment gave a clear answer: what we believed in turned out to be true,” he said. The results of the study will be published in the scientific journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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