Graduate Program in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Department of Pediatrics, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2024 Nov 22;22:eAO0495. doi: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2024AO0495. eCollection 2024.
Previous studies indicated that face masks reduce the probability of infection by SARS-CoV-2 but did not examine the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and mask usage. This study analyzed this relationship.
This cross-sectional study evaluated patients admitted to a public Emergency Care Unit in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, between October 2020 and March 2021. Convenience samples were recruited during the study period. Adult patients with COVID-19 symptoms were invited to participate after being examined by a physician according to the Emergency Care Unit routine. This study included 441 adults with mild symptoms diagnosed with COVID-19 via RT-PCR, who were tested until the 14th day after symptom onset. Participants were interviewed about mask usage, oropharyngeal swabs were collected, and the SARS-CoV-2 viral load was measured using RT-PCR. The difference between the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the groups of individuals who regularly used and did not use masks was subjected to a hypothesis test.
Of the patients who had swabs collected 1-5 days after symptom onset, 64.9% of those not using masks regularly and 45.5% of those using masks regularly presented a high SARS-CoV-2 viral load. This difference was statistically significant (p=0.0073). Considering only the patients who had swabs collected 4-8 days after symptom onset, 44.1% of those not using masks regularly and 30.8% of those using masks regularly presented a high SARS-CoV-2 viral load; this difference was statistically significant (p=0.0364).
When people who regularly wear a face mask contract COVID-19, they have a significantly lower probability of having a high viral load of SARS-CoV-2 compared to those who do not regularly wear masks.
先前的研究表明，口罩可降低感染 SARS-CoV-2 的概率，但并未研究 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量与口罩使用之间的关系。本研究对此进行了分析。
本横断面研究评估了 2020 年 10 月至 2021 年 3 月期间在巴西贝洛奥里藏特的一家公立急诊护理单元收治的患者。在研究期间招募了方便样本。经医生根据急诊护理单元常规检查后，邀请出现 COVID-19 症状的成年患者参加研究。本研究纳入了 441 名经 RT-PCR 诊断为 COVID-19 且症状轻微的成年人，他们在症状出现后第 14 天接受了检测。对参与者的口罩使用情况进行了访谈，并采集了咽拭子，使用 RT-PCR 检测 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量。对定期使用和不使用口罩的两组个体的 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量之间的差异进行了假设检验。
在症状出现后 1-5 天采集拭子的患者中，不规律使用口罩者中 64.9%和规律使用口罩者中 45.5%的 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量较高。这一差异具有统计学意义（p=0.0073）。仅考虑症状出现后 4-8 天采集拭子的患者，不规律使用口罩者中 44.1%和规律使用口罩者中 30.8%的 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量较高；这一差异具有统计学意义（p=0.0364）。
与不规律佩戴口罩者相比，规律佩戴口罩者在感染 COVID-19 时 SARS-CoV-2 的病毒载量较高的可能性显著降低。
