The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) took a position, this Wednesday (15/2), on the criticisms made by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) to the recommendations for the use of masks to contain the transmission of the coronavirus.
In a letter sent to Anvisa on Monday (2/13), the president of the CFM, José Hiran da Silva Gallo, stated that there is no scientific evidence to justify the mandatory use of the protection item in airports and aircraft. “In addition to not having evidence of protection, there is evidence of harm to the health of crew, passengers and the environment”, says the document signed by the president of CFM.
The use of masks on planes and in airport boarding areas was once again mandatory by Anvisa in November 2022. CFM’s suggestion that the rule be reviewed goes against recommendations by national and international health authorities, including the Organization World Health Organization (WHO).
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In the text sent to the regulatory agency, the president of CFM states that there is no longer a state of health emergency for Covid-19 on the planet since mid-2022 or an epidemic curve in force. “And even if there were, Anvisa’s measure lacks technical and scientific grounds for its implementation. The predictions of a dramatic increase in curves and deaths were mistakenly made”, he points out.
CFM’s statement was made on top of scientific publications on the effectiveness of the use of masks in preventing the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19. Some of the analyzes were carried out before the Covid-19 pandemic and refer to the use of cloth masks, which offer less protection than the masks required by Anvisa.
In a note to the press, Anvisa clarifies that it bases its decisions on the best scientific evidence and is aligned with national and international reference organizations such as the Ministry of Health, WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The agency reinforces that there is still circulation of the coronavirus in the country, which may lead to the appearance of new variants of concern.
“The Agency monitors the results of the epidemiological monitoring of Covid-19, associated with the moment in the country, in which there is greater circulation of people and agglomerations under different conditions, due to the Carnival period”, he says.
The agency also points out that different groups of people – including the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women, the elderly, children, people traveling for health treatments and immunodebilitated people – use air transport.
“The correct use of the mask is an act of individual and collective protection. In the same direction, the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and protect against hospitalizations and deaths”, says the Anvisa note.
Despite the easing of the rules for the use of masks and the drop in cases of Covid registered in Brazil, it is not yet time to give up care to contain the virus, especially with so many variants in circulation.Kilito Chan/ Getty Images
Photo-man-wearing-mask-and-coughing.jpgAccording to a study released in December 2021 by the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the mask acts as a shield against Covid and helps contain outbreaks of other viruses that may have epidemic potential, such as H3N2RUNSTUDIO/ Getty Images
***Photo-women-wearing-masks.jpgAccording to the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), when an infected person uses a mask such as PFF2 and a healthy person who is close to him also uses a PFF2, the chance of contagion would be only 0.1%. However, not all protective masks are equally effective.Boy_Anupong/ Getty Images
***Photo-mask-N95-Covid-effectivenessAccording to researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP), who evaluated 227 different masks and whose study was published in the journal Aerosol Science and Technology, filtration of PFF2 (also known as N95) prevents the passage of 98% of particles from 60 to 300 nm. Therefore, PFF2 is the most suitable protective maskDon MacKinnon/Getty Images
***Photo-surgical-mask-Covid.jpgAlso according to the study, which analyzed the ability of accessories to prevent the virus from being breathed or expelled, surgical masks were second in terms of protection. This is because they had 89% filtering capacityKilito Chan/ Getty Images
***Photo-mask-PFF2-Covid.jpgSlightly more resistant than a surgical mask, the PFF1 is lined with a filter that repels microorganisms. However, the cost-effectiveness of the product may not be so interesting, since it is disposable and its price is not the cheapest.Grace Cary/Getty Images
***Photo-mask-cotton-Covid.jpgThe famous cotton masks, however, showed the lowest effectiveness against particle retention, between 20% and 60%. This is because the fabric used to make the garment leaves more space between the threads and reduces protection against the virus.Ganlaya Tieghom / EyeEm / Getty Images
***Photo-woman-wearing-mask-and-mopping-alcohol-in-hands.jpgHowever, according to the researchers, despite the effectiveness that the masks have, they will be of no use if they are not used correctly. Adjusting the mask to the face, avoiding gaps in the contact of the accessory with the nose, chin and cheeks and changing the piece during the day is essential to guarantee protection against Covid and any other virus.hiphotos35/ Getty Images
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