Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

3 questions · 3 findings · 1 reviews · Acute Respiratory Infections

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No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 0 · 0%Very low 1 · 33.3%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 2 · 66.7%High 0 · 0%

Medical/surgical masks vs no masks

Viral respiratory illness ‐ influenza/COVID‐like illness · general population

Medical/surgical masks showed no clear difference in viral respiratory illness ‐ influenza/COVID‐like illness compared with no masks (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
RR 0.95 [0.84, 1.09]
9 studies · 276917 participants
Moderate

Medical/surgical masks vs no masks

Viral respiratory illness ‐ laboratory‐confirmed influenza/SARS‐CoV‐2 · general population

Medical/surgical masks showed no clear difference in viral respiratory illness ‐ laboratory‐confirmed influenza/SARS‐CoV‐2 compared with no masks (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
RR 1.01 [0.72, 1.42]
6 studies · 13919 participants
Moderate

Medical/surgical masks vs no masks

Adverse events · general population

1 finding from 1 review

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
no estimate extracted
3 studies · 3 participants
Very low