05当全民疯抢口罩时Will A Mask Really Protect You From Coronavirus

As coronavirus spreads through China,drugstores are selling out of surgical masks.

随着冠状病毒造成的新冠状病毒在中国扩散，各大药妆店的外科用口罩正逐渐售罄。

Take a look through the news stories andyou'll see photos of concerned citizens with their faces covered.

大略看一下新闻版面，可以看到脸被遮掩起来，忧心忡忡的市民们。

But is covering your mouth enough toprevent this life-threatening illness?

但遮住嘴巴足够让你免于这会威胁到性命的疾病吗？

And if not, what's really the best way tostay healthy?

如果答案是否定的，什么才是保持健康的最佳方法呢？

We spoke with an expert to betterunderstand this outbreak.

我们咨询了一位专家以更加暸解这个疾病的爆发。

So coronaviruses are a large family ofviruses that are responsible for about 25 % of cases of the common cold.

冠状病毒是一族各种不同病毒的总称，他们引起了约百分之 25 的常见感冒。

Before this latest outbreak, there were sixcoronaviruses that were known to infect humans.

在这个最新的疫情爆发之前，有六种冠状病毒为我们所熟知会感染人类。

And four of them were just kind of commoncold viruses that occasionally could cause pneumonia or severe disease.

而其中四种是会偶尔引起肺炎的普通感冒病毒。

Coronavirus is an umbrella term that refersto a family of upper-respiratory diseases, including the common cold, MERS andSARS.

冠状病毒是指一族会引起上呼吸道疾病的病毒的总称，包括引起一般感冒、MERS 和 SARS。

The virus can present in several ways.

这种病毒有多种表征方式。

Sometimes as a mild illness and sometimesas a life-threatening disease.

有时候是轻微的感冒，有时是威胁生命的疾病。

The current strain in China is highlycontagious, hundreds of people have been infected, and several have died.

目前在大陆流行的病毒品系非常具传染力，数以百计的人被感染，还有数位病患因病去世。

On January 21, it was confirmed that thisstrain of coronavirus has made its way to the U.S.

在 1 月 21 日，确认了这种引起新冠状病毒的病毒已经扩散至美国。

Soft surgical masks, like the   one shown here, are designed to prevent thewearer from spreading their germs to others.

软的外科口罩，如图所示，它的设计是为了防止将细菌传染给别人。

But they won't prevent inhalation ofairborne germs.

但它们没办法防止戴口罩者吸入透过空气传播的细菌。

Their loose sides reduce theireffectiveness as a barrier against disease.

它们不紧密的侧边降低了口罩作为阻挡空气传播细菌屏障的有效性。

To block out the greatest number ofairborne germs, you'd need an N95 respirator mask.

要阻挡绝大多数的空气传播细菌，你需要 一个 N95 口罩。

This mask is what a surgeon would weararound a patient with a highly infectious disease, like tuberculosis.

这是当外科医生在附近有一位病患患有高度传染力疾病时会戴的口罩，如肺结核。

These masks aren't a foolproof solution forthe public either.

这些口罩也不是避免生病万无一失的方法。

Surgeons get their masks fitted andgenerally only wear them for a short period of time.

外科医师的口罩非常贴合脸部，基本上只戴它们一小段时间。

Just buying a mask from the drugstorewouldn't give you the same snug fit around the mouth that keeps those germsfrom getting in.

在药妆店购买的口罩不会在口部附近如此服贴以避免细菌进入。

Furthermore, respirator masks actuallyfilter air, which makes them a great barrier against disease.

此外，N95 口罩会过滤空气，使它们成为一个更强大的防疫屏障。

But according to Dr. Amesh Adalja, theyrestrict oxygen flow too much to be worn all day.

但根据 Amesh Adalja 博士，这类型的口罩会限制氧气进入口罩内，因此很难全天戴着。

A study conducted by the University of New South Wales found that when worn correctly, these masks have an 80% efficacy rate of protecting the wearer against a proven viral infection.

一份新南韦尔斯大学的研究显示，正确配戴口罩可以保障 80% 的人避免受到病毒感染。

This study focused on the spread ofinfluenza, but Dr. Adalja says that the two diseases spread in comparable ways.

这份研究主要在讨论流感的传播，但 Adalia 博士指出两种疾病是以类似的方式传染。

Coronaviruses spread through therespiratory route, so that's through coughs and sneezes and little droplets tocome out of your mouth.

冠状病毒是透过呼吸道路径侵入病患，所以是透过从你嘴巴喷出的口沫小滴、咳嗽或喷嚏。

And that's pretty much very similar to theinfluenza.

而这个与流感非常类似。

They do spread very readily, and that's theconcern when you have one that can cause severe illness.

他们扩散得非常迅速，他们可以造成很严重的病征，所以这是令人忧心的地方。

Unfortunately there's a catch.

但不幸的是，这之中带有玄机。

The same study found that mask-usagecompliance, or the portion of people using the masks effectively was only 50%.

在同一份研究显示，民众正确使用口罩或有效配戴口罩的比例只有 50 %。

With the noncompliant users incorporated,there was no difference in infection rate between the mask wearers and thecontrol group.

如果将没有正确配戴口罩的使用者纳入考虑，戴口罩的对照组与不戴口罩的控制组感染率没有差别。

So what's the best way to keep yourselfsafe?

所以什么才是最好保持安全的方法呢？

Dr. Adalja's advice is simple.

Adalja 博士的建议很简单。

So the best thing you can really do is topractice good hygiene, wash your hands, stay away from sick people if you can.

你能做到最好的事情就是保持良好卫生习惯，勤洗手，如果可以的话远离病患。

If you're in those parts of China wherecases have occurred, you want to stay away from the live animal markets which mayhave been part of the origin of this new virus.

如果你在中国疫区，远离可能是新型病毒源头的生鲜市场。

But there isn't anything specific you cando other than a lot of common sense and good hygiene.

除了保持大量正确的防疫知识与良好的卫生习惯，你没有其他特别可以做的事来避免感染。

If you do choose to wear a mask, try tofollow the rules:

如果你选择戴口罩，试着遵循以下条件：

Don't remove the mask frequently, touchyour face under the mask or reuse it.

不要经常拿掉口罩、在口罩下摸脸或重复使用口罩。

Doing so will greatly diminish its benefits.

如果做了这些会大幅减轻口罩的功效。

视频来源：

Cheddar [Youtube]