As it turns out, even Cochrane itself is now saying that commentators who believe the review concluded that masks were useless were simply wrong. In a statement published on Friday, Cochrane Library editor-in-chief Karla Soares-Weiser wrote that the review’s results were “inconclusive” on whether “interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.”
Cochrane blamed a poorly worded plain-language summary of the review’s conclusions that could be misinterpreted to make it seem as if the authors were uncertain on whether masks themselves could actually slow the spread of respiratory viruses; in fact, the review examined whether interventions to encourage mask wearing slow the spread of such viruses, and said that the relative paucity of good studies on the subject made it hard to draw a clear conclusion.
As the sociologist Zeynep Tufekci wrote Friday in a smart New York Times piece on the controversy, both the review itself and much of the reaction were deeply flawed.
There are good suggestions on what questions need to be asked to get useful answers about mask wearing, including better designed masks. The questions arise from Jason Abaluck's work ...
"Jason Abaluck is a Yale behavioral economist and the co-author of a study of masking interventions in Bangladesh that provided the single largest randomized controlled trial we have that looks at the effects of encouraging people to wear masks during the Covid pandemic. His research found a significant reduction in Covid cases in the villages that encouraged masking.
Bravo for shining a light on the ever growing use of “experts” who base their recommendations on the RCTless science of Political Science. It is funny how the so called experts, including our less than sterling CDC director can deflect scientific backed criticism with a simple denial or, worse, a restatement of a previous position that has not stood the test of time. God forbid we should do any RCTs as they are now an excuse to ignore real scientific advice. Thank you Elissa.
As a school based speech language pathologist, I am so frustrated to see the continuance of mask wearing by healthy adults that work with children. There is a feeling that masks "must do something" and therefore they should continue to be used, no matter what the illness is and regardless of the harm. Masks impede communication and social connection which is vital to us as humans. There continues to be teachers and therapists that work with young children that continue to mask to avoid getting sick. When did we get so afraid of the flu or of the common colds?! Children need to see faces, especially of those teaching and working with them! Imagine being a 6 year old first grader in 2023 and not knowing what your first grade teacher really looks like, what her smile looks like. The messaging around masks needs to change, thank you for continuing to spread it!
As an older person, I have created a process called "fluid trust" This requires having a basic knowledge of the idea of the scientific method combined with ways of evaluating evidence. With all the available writing, this is too much to do, so I pay attention to people who speak/write clearly. When new evidence comes along, they are able to change their thinking and evaluation based on the different evidence. While not perfect, it is better than paying attention to the media.
While not convinced that all vaccines are safe, I imagine some are useful. Thus go the public who have lost faith in public health officials. They don't know who to believe. Some mea culpas might help restore trust, but the politicians we thought were scientists are loath to admit error. Some house cleaning is overdue.
Really what all this shows is how easy it is to brainwash people, especially those who are super smart and highly credentialed. In my own building at the NIH, the majority of scientists are still wearing a masks. A close colleague of mine, who is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and one would therefore think had some degree of smarts, still wears a mask everywhere, including on the outside and at conferences. When I sent him the recent Cochrane Review he just dismissed it as coming from right wing conspiracy theorists (and obviously nothing could be further from the truth). When I mentioned and then sent the Cochrane review to our Institute Scientific Director, he just dismissed it as cherry picking and told me that he knew for sure that masks prevented respiratory tract infections. The fact that the Cochrane Review examined 78 mask RCTs, hardly cherry picking, given that they included every single RCT on masks, just simply passed him by. He also couldn't grasp the notion that observational studies for masking are extremely poor. To me, it's absolutely extraordinary that people who are supposedly so smart in scientific and medical fields simply cannot see what's in front of their eyes. The bottom line is that they are not smart outside their very narrow field of expertise and very few are; and in addition they have been totally brainwashed, pushed in part by their allegiance with one political party. This is totally crazy because health and health policy should be evidenced based and should have nothing to do with one's political views.
If I really thought about it, the duplicity, the idiocy, and the talk coming from both sides of one's mouth, my head would probably spin right off my shoulders. I went into an office the other day and the sign said, "Masks Mandated. Do not enter without a mask". I walked in and NOBODY was wearing a mask. I can go anywhere and see people with and without masks entering and exiting places with no signs of how to care for yourself. It seems as though people are doing what is right for them - which is the way it should be. The fact that I MUST wear a mask when entering any doctors' offices offends me. When talking with them regarding the mandate they are convinced masks work. They are appalled at the data I present to them negating their beliefs and look at me with disdain. They won't even consider having a discussion about it. And c'mon folks, if you believe in masks, wear them all the time, are convinced they are necessary and work, please stop wearing them under your nose, on your chin, and using any old mask that isn't fit tested. You look kinda silly defeating your own beliefs.
"However, it’s possible that dramatic shifts in expert advice communicated through the mainstream media – in the absence of scientific consensus – may also be part of the problem."
Surely, that last sentence is used to justify doubling down on wrong. Admitting errors would erode confidence.
On the Cochrane Review ...
<snip>
As it turns out, even Cochrane itself is now saying that commentators who believe the review concluded that masks were useless were simply wrong. In a statement published on Friday, Cochrane Library editor-in-chief Karla Soares-Weiser wrote that the review’s results were “inconclusive” on whether “interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.”
Cochrane blamed a poorly worded plain-language summary of the review’s conclusions that could be misinterpreted to make it seem as if the authors were uncertain on whether masks themselves could actually slow the spread of respiratory viruses; in fact, the review examined whether interventions to encourage mask wearing slow the spread of such viruses, and said that the relative paucity of good studies on the subject made it hard to draw a clear conclusion.
As the sociologist Zeynep Tufekci wrote Friday in a smart New York Times piece on the controversy, both the review itself and much of the reaction were deeply flawed.
</snip>
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/3/8/23630644/cochrane-review-masks-covid-coronavirus-pandemic
There are good suggestions on what questions need to be asked to get useful answers about mask wearing, including better designed masks. The questions arise from Jason Abaluck's work ...
"Jason Abaluck is a Yale behavioral economist and the co-author of a study of masking interventions in Bangladesh that provided the single largest randomized controlled trial we have that looks at the effects of encouraging people to wear masks during the Covid pandemic. His research found a significant reduction in Covid cases in the villages that encouraged masking.
Bravo for shining a light on the ever growing use of “experts” who base their recommendations on the RCTless science of Political Science. It is funny how the so called experts, including our less than sterling CDC director can deflect scientific backed criticism with a simple denial or, worse, a restatement of a previous position that has not stood the test of time. God forbid we should do any RCTs as they are now an excuse to ignore real scientific advice. Thank you Elissa.
As a school based speech language pathologist, I am so frustrated to see the continuance of mask wearing by healthy adults that work with children. There is a feeling that masks "must do something" and therefore they should continue to be used, no matter what the illness is and regardless of the harm. Masks impede communication and social connection which is vital to us as humans. There continues to be teachers and therapists that work with young children that continue to mask to avoid getting sick. When did we get so afraid of the flu or of the common colds?! Children need to see faces, especially of those teaching and working with them! Imagine being a 6 year old first grader in 2023 and not knowing what your first grade teacher really looks like, what her smile looks like. The messaging around masks needs to change, thank you for continuing to spread it!
As an older person, I have created a process called "fluid trust" This requires having a basic knowledge of the idea of the scientific method combined with ways of evaluating evidence. With all the available writing, this is too much to do, so I pay attention to people who speak/write clearly. When new evidence comes along, they are able to change their thinking and evaluation based on the different evidence. While not perfect, it is better than paying attention to the media.
While not convinced that all vaccines are safe, I imagine some are useful. Thus go the public who have lost faith in public health officials. They don't know who to believe. Some mea culpas might help restore trust, but the politicians we thought were scientists are loath to admit error. Some house cleaning is overdue.
Any reason to believe that ventilation *doesn't* help? Flu is airborne.
My guess is that such as suggestion was never on people's minds before Covid - unless you were designing a hospital.
Really what all this shows is how easy it is to brainwash people, especially those who are super smart and highly credentialed. In my own building at the NIH, the majority of scientists are still wearing a masks. A close colleague of mine, who is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and one would therefore think had some degree of smarts, still wears a mask everywhere, including on the outside and at conferences. When I sent him the recent Cochrane Review he just dismissed it as coming from right wing conspiracy theorists (and obviously nothing could be further from the truth). When I mentioned and then sent the Cochrane review to our Institute Scientific Director, he just dismissed it as cherry picking and told me that he knew for sure that masks prevented respiratory tract infections. The fact that the Cochrane Review examined 78 mask RCTs, hardly cherry picking, given that they included every single RCT on masks, just simply passed him by. He also couldn't grasp the notion that observational studies for masking are extremely poor. To me, it's absolutely extraordinary that people who are supposedly so smart in scientific and medical fields simply cannot see what's in front of their eyes. The bottom line is that they are not smart outside their very narrow field of expertise and very few are; and in addition they have been totally brainwashed, pushed in part by their allegiance with one political party. This is totally crazy because health and health policy should be evidenced based and should have nothing to do with one's political views.
If I really thought about it, the duplicity, the idiocy, and the talk coming from both sides of one's mouth, my head would probably spin right off my shoulders. I went into an office the other day and the sign said, "Masks Mandated. Do not enter without a mask". I walked in and NOBODY was wearing a mask. I can go anywhere and see people with and without masks entering and exiting places with no signs of how to care for yourself. It seems as though people are doing what is right for them - which is the way it should be. The fact that I MUST wear a mask when entering any doctors' offices offends me. When talking with them regarding the mandate they are convinced masks work. They are appalled at the data I present to them negating their beliefs and look at me with disdain. They won't even consider having a discussion about it. And c'mon folks, if you believe in masks, wear them all the time, are convinced they are necessary and work, please stop wearing them under your nose, on your chin, and using any old mask that isn't fit tested. You look kinda silly defeating your own beliefs.
Mail hit on the head
"However, it’s possible that dramatic shifts in expert advice communicated through the mainstream media – in the absence of scientific consensus – may also be part of the problem."
Surely, that last sentence is used to justify doubling down on wrong. Admitting errors would erode confidence.
Not just “part of the problem”. It is THE problem.