Skip to main content

History of the Face Mask

The face mask became ubiquitous during the covid-19 pandemic, but its history dates long before it became one of the most politically charged controversies of 2020. In fact, it was well-known and widely used by both medical personnel and the public during the 1918 flu pandemic and also became common in China and Korea during the SARS outbreak.

Red Cross nurses wearing face masks during 1918 pandemic 

But it had made an appearance centuries ago, as long back as the 1600s. Thanks to the miasma theory of disease, which attributed diseases to bad air, people often tried to protect themselves with cloth coverings on their faces during epidemics or while tending to the sick. The idea was the same as today's mask use but without an understanding of germs. This was most stark during the various plague outbreaks. Plague masks became common in the 1600s and were worn by doctors while treating the infected. The plague masks were however, rather comical with long elongated beaks and two nostril ports that could be loaded with intense to get rid of the bad air or stench that was believed to be causing the plague.


Plague mask used widely during the 1600s

Surgical masks first appeared at the end of the 19th century, around 1897, when doctors started wearing masks --  makeshift cloth mouth covering -- to prevent droplets from coughs and sneezes from entering patient wounds during surgery; therefore, they mostly only covered the mouth.

Early versions of the surgical mask

For much of the 19th century, loose fitting cloth masks that were the equivalent of modern surgical masks were used, but the N-95 mask or respirator was born in 1911 during the Manchurian Plague. In a power struggle to control the devastating outbreak that was spreading rapidly with 100% mortality, both Russia and Imperial China poured resources into studying the apocalyptic disease. It was a Cambridge educated Chinese doctor, Lien-teh Wu, who first identified that the disease was spreading through the air (and not fleas on rats as widely believed). Drawing inspiration from surgical masks he had seen in Europe, he developed a multi-layered face mask using gauze and cotton that not only served as a physical barrier but also filtered the inhalation. It quickly gained a loyal following among doctors and the public alike, and within months had earned an iconic status around the world. 

Precursor to the N-95 respirator mask from 1911

The modern N-95 respirator is derived from Wu's design. 3M, the leading innovator of masks, began mass producing these masks during World War I and later WWII, not for medical use but for industrial use at first. Through several refinements over the years, they arrived at the modern version that uses both mechanical and electrostatic filtering to stop particles as small as 0.02 microns (roughly the size of the SARS-CoV-2 virus). That is why masks will in fact help protect from covid-19 when worn correctly and diligently.

3M N-95 mask used during the 2020 covid-19 pandemic


Sources

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2820%2931207-1/fulltext 
https://eurjmedres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40001-020-00423-4 
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-10/medical-face-masks-an-illustrated-history#xj4y7vzkg
https://write.as/deyner1984/face-masks-history-from-ancient-times-to-present-days
https://www.fastcompany.com/90479846/the-untold-origin-story-of-the-n95-mask

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Origin of Neurology

As I consider majoring in neurobiology (the study of the biological mechanisms that control the nervous system) in college, I thought it would be interesting to delve into the origins of neuroscience. For hundreds of years from the ancient Egyptians to the Greeks, humans believed that the seat of intellect was the heart (which is why the ancient Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve the heart after death but discarded the brain!)    The birth of neurology began 2500 years ago with Hippocrates who pondered over the purpose and functioning of the brain, reasoning that the brain must be the organ controlling sensation simply because most sensory organs - eyes, ears, and tongue -- are located close to the brain. This was starkly different from other opinions of the time which held that the heart was the main organ that controlled everything in humans. The brain was simply thought to be a "radiator" for pumping the heart and keeping it cool.  Later, Hippocrates expanded ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Galen

Even though Cajal is considered the father of neuroscience, his contribution came centuries after the first insights into the nervous system. As I wrote in my earlier posts, ancient doctors pondered over the nervous system, trying to understand what controlled the mind and body. Of these doctors, one that stands out is Galen, whose contribution to the understanding of the nervous system was fundamental to neuroscience. Through anatomical experiments, Galen was the first to observe and teach the functioning of nerves in the body. For these experiments, which he wasn’t shy about demonstrating to the public, Galen is regarded as the founder of experimental physiology. Galen is considered one of the most prominent and influential doctors in history, second only to Hippocrates. Galen was a staunch follower of Hippocrates and helped spread his teachings from Greece to the vast Roman Empire. Claudius Galenus, commonly know as Galen, was born in 129 AD in Pergamum in modern-day Turkey to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Nervous System

Just as the purpose of the brain and the heart confused ancient scientists, so did the nervous system. Nerves had been identified fairly early but they proved difficult to categorize. Some thought it was similar to arteries and formed some sort of connective system for tissues. In fact, the word nerve is Greek for tendon or sinew, suggesting that it was thought to be some sort of physical connection. Despite the confusion about its exact mechanism, ancient medical practitioners seemed to understand its function. Nerves were attributed to both movement and sensation correctly, even though there were opposing views on what controlled these functions. Aristotle argued that nerves originated and were controlled by the heart, while others argued nerves were controlled by the brain. Centuries later, Galen proved that nerves emanated from the brain, scoffing at those “who know nothing of what is to be seen in dissection." Galen was the first to conclude that the spinal cord was an ...
Post a Comment
Read more