Found this informative and wished to share. The Viral Inoculum Theory Abstract: "Although the benefit of population-level public facial masking to protect others during the COVID-19 pandemic has received a great deal of attention, we discuss for one of the first times the hypothesis that universal masking reduces the “inoculum” or dose of the virus for the mask-wearer, leading to more mild and asymptomatic infection manifestations. Masks, depending on type, filter out the majority of viral particles, but not all. We first discuss the near-century-old literature around the viral inoculum and severity of disease (conceptualized as the LD50 or lethal dose of the virus). We include examples of rising rates of asymptomatic infection with population-level masking, including in closed settings (e.g., cruise ships) with and without universal masking. Asymptomatic infections may be harmful for spread but could actually be beneficial if they lead to higher rates of exposure. Exposing society to SARS-CoV-2 without the unacceptable consequences of severe illness with public masking could lead to greater community-level immunity and slower spread as we await a vaccine. This theory of viral inoculum and mild or asymptomatic disease with SARS-CoV-2 in light of population-level masking has received little attention so this is one of the first perspectives to discuss the evidence supporting this theory." Dr Gandhi https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7393808/ Dr Gandhi on zdogg MD https://zdoggmd.com/monica-gandhi/ Wishing each of you all the best.
This one is correct - and is what a number of us here have been saying since around February. A pity that governments were so very slow at getting it.
I learned it first as a form of variolation, which Washington did to his troops, and I suppose goes all the way back to the ancient Chinese snorting powdered scabs. The New England Journal of Medicine mentioned it too. I thought small doses might do it, but didn't think of the masks.
I was not aware of this but the story makes fascinating reading. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...pox-epidemic-with-controversial-inoculations/ "“The smallpox is ten times more terrible than Britons, Canadians, and Indians together,” Massachusetts statesman John Adams despairingly wrote in 1776." is really saying something!