CIATDM press release to contest the favorable opinion of pediatricians on masks in school

CIATDM, on the other hand, brings official data and technical opinions from Institutions and authoritative sutdiosi to prove that the mask, if imposed on children, as a safety garrison could turn into dangerous vehicle of contagion, increasing the risk of transmission of the Coronavirus.

Here are the reasons for the "no to the mask at school" reported in the letter.
Studies published by the ECDC attest that children represent a very small percentage of the reported COVID-19 cases, with approximately 1% of all cases under the age of 10 and 4% between the ages of 10 and 19 years. In Italy the official data released by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (and updated on May 20) say that out of 227.204 total cases there are 1.851 cases of children (0-9 years) equal to 0,8% and 3.312 cases of children (10-19) equal to 1,5%.

As for the use of masks, the World Health Organization, in a document published April 6, 2020 declares that "... there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (medical or otherwise) by healthy people in a wider community context, including masking the universal community, could prevent them from contracting respiratory viruses, including COVID -19 ".

In the aforementioned document, WHO instead reports some potential risks that should be carefully considered in any decision-making process, for example the self-contamination risk, which can be done by touching and reusing contaminated masks, potential breathing difficulties and false sense of security, which leads to a potential reduction in compliance with other preventive measures, and prescribes, in any case, the correct methods of use of the masks, namely:

• Position the mask carefully, making sure it covers the mouth and nose, and tie it tightly to minimize any opening between the face and the mask.
• Avoid touching the mask while wearing it.
• Remove the mask using the right technique: do not touch the front of the mask but untie it from behind.
• After removing it or whenever a used mask has been inadvertently touched, wash your hands with a special alcohol-based product or with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• As soon as it gets wet, replace the bezel with a new, clean and dry mask.
• Do not reuse disposable masks.
• Discard disposable masks after each use and dispose of them immediately after removing them.

It seems really difficult to think that the pediatric population can scrupulously follow these indications or that teachers can supervise the correct use of masks.

Yet.

Il dr. Alberto Donzelli, specialist in hygiene and preventive medicine, in a recent study published in the Repository of Epidemiology and Prevention, the magazine is intended for epidemiological doctors, highlights that ".... in unconscious infected subjects, where the virus emission is maximum in the two days preceding the symptoms, the mask obliges a continuous respiratory recirculation of its viruses, adding resistance to exhalation, with a real risk of push a high viral load deep into the alveoli, which could have been defeated by innate defenses if it had only impacted the upper respiratory tract. "

Again the Ministry of Health - Directorate-General for Health Prevention office 5 prevention of communicable diseases and international prophylaxis, in Note no. 0010736 of 29/03/2020 clarified, among other things, that "The currently available data do not support the transmission by air of SARS-CoV-2, except for possible risks through procedures that generate aerosols if performed in an inadequate environment (not in an isolation room with negative pressure) and / or in use of inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE). "

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, in his recent document "Using face masks in the community" of April 8, 2020, (http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/COVID-19-use-face-masks-community.pdf) specified that: "There is a risk that improper removal of the mask, manipulation of a contaminated mask or an increased tendency to touch the face while wearing a mask by healthy people may actually increase the risk of transmission"

On this point, the dr. Antonio Lazzarino, epidemiologist at University College London, with an article in the British medical Journal: https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/369/bmj.m2003.full.pdf:

"In conclusion, unlike Greenhalgh et al., We believe that the context of the current covid-19 pandemic is very different from that of" parachutes for jumping out of airplanes ", [7] in which the dynamics of damage and prevention they are easy to define and even quantify without the need for research studies. It is necessary to quantify the complex interactions that could very well operate between positive and negative effects of the use of surgical masks at the population level. It is not time to act without proof."

Finally, the report published ISS COVID 19 nr. 25/2020 containing the interim Recommendations on the sanitation of non-healthcare facilities, in the table on page 4 shows the persistence of infectious particles on the surfaces and on the outer layer of the masks, which has the highest temporal datum of 7 days, confirming that the mask, far from being an effective protection, constitutes a dangerous vehicle of contagion.

In light of the above it appears at least reckless and the imposition of a mask on the pediatric population, which should wear it for many hours a day, in the almost certainty of incorrect management of the same and in the presence of significant health risks, is not scientifically supported.

Therefore the CIATDM asks the Ministers Speranza and Azzolina to immediately revoke the obligation to wear a mask for the pediatric population.

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