Masks not good for persons with respiratory conditions, babies under six

Experts at the Ministry of Health have cautioned that babies below the age of six and people with asthma or difficulty in breathing should not put on masks.

Dr Henry Kajumbula, a infection prevention expert at the Ministry of Health, said that children below six years and people with difficulties in breathing may not have the ability to breath with the masks on and that prolonged use of face masks could impair their ability to take in enough oxygen.

Dr Kajumbula made these remarks while addressing the country on the use of face masks during the Ministry of Health address on the steps taken to combat the spread of the Coronavirus in the country.

“There are certain people who are exempted from putting on masks and currently for Uganda, we are recommending masks for age 6 years and above. For the children below six, we think that some of their practices like the way they will handle the mask may not be appropriate for them to use the masks,” Dr Kajumbula said.

He added, “The other group is for children below 2 years. In an adult, we don’t use all our ability to breath because there is a reserve and as we go through extreme activities like exercise, we use this reserve to breath. Even when using these facemasks, we might use a bit of that reserve but children below 2 years don’t have that reserve so putting masks on them might impair their ability.”

Dr Kajumbula said the same happens among people with some chronic respiratory problems.

He said, “People who might have asthma might have challenges too. So people with difficulty in breathing might not be advised to put on masks.”

As the country stares at easing of the current lockdown next week, President Museveni and the Ministry of Health said that it would be mandatory for everyone to put on a face mask if going in the public. Dr Kajumbula said the onus would be upon the healthy people to put on masks in order to protect vulnerable groups like the children below six and the people with chronic respiratory illnesses.

Reports from CDC indicate that when a double cloth mask is used with a filter inside, it increases its protection to over 95%.

Minster Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said that the public is urged to use cloth masks which according to her, have proved to have another advantage in that they can be washed overnight, ironed and reused the next day.

Aceng said that in a review of 49 countries, it was found that 8 countries which had advocated for widespread use of facemasks such as China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia had a lower number of COVID-19 cases per inhabitant than countries that didn’t advocate of the same.

“It is against this background that widespread (universal) use of facemasks for the general public, is strongly recommended for Uganda,” Aceng said.

Dr Aceng said that President Museveni will give more guidelines on how the use of masks will be rolled out successfully across the country.

WHAT ARE MASKS?

Masks are garments that cover the mouth and nose. In healthcare, they are worn to protect either the user or the environment of the user where there may be other people against contamination by infectious agents.

Broadly, two types of masks are used in the healthcare setting and that is the medical masks and filtering respirator masks, which are made of unwoven fabric.

The masks are designed to filter above 95% of particles, which are less than 5 microns in size.