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Letters to the Editor

America: Time to re-focus?

EDITOR: The United States of America, since its Declaration of Independence in 1776, has stood the test of time to become one of mankind’s greatest experiments. Our founding fathers pushed back against tyranny and set out on a journey of freedom and liberty. The United States Constitution was born. For over 225 years the Constitution has been the foundation of our republic. I recently read a letter to the editor (Nov 30 – “LaFave gambling with public health”) in which the writer stated their belief that public health supersedes the liberty and freedom that the Constitution ...

Mask study conducted in 2011 has limitations

EDITOR: This letter is regarding Ralph Blasier’s letter “Mask Facts (COVID 19)” and “Mask facts two, COVID”, and specifically concerns the study Mr. Blasier cited that was conducted by “faculty of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia” (titled “A cluster randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers” published in BMJ Open in April of 2015). The study itself was conducted across 14 hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam with participants being monitored for a total of five weeks ...

Lies, damned lies, and statistics (Mark Twain)

EDITOR: Ralph Blasier’s letter on 11/30 discussed ‘the first randomized clinical trial’ of medical vs cloth masks on respiratory or influenza infection in health care workers (HCWs), but gave no article citation so readers could check it out for themselves. The study, funded by 3M - that manufactures masks- was done in Vietnamese hospitals in 2011. The only statistically significant finding was that HCWs who wore cloth masks had a higher relative risk for influenza-like illness than medical masks wearers (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577). Over 4 weeks, 29 of 580 ...

Mask facts two, COVID

EDITOR: On November 30, the Daily Press published a letter from me discussing limitations of COVID masks. I have recently been criticized by Brian Black for my letter (December 6). In my letter, I did not differentiate between protection of the wearer versus protection of the person facing the wearer. I did discuss that all of the available masks have a short limited life, after which they don’t protect anyone. After the life of the mask is passed, blowing air around the sides of the mask protects no-one. In my letter in paragraph one, I discussed the only randomized clinical ...

We deserve to know…

EDITOR: It’s been going on for years now, but now after the Oxford School shooting last week it is hitting a little too close to home for all of us. My friend’s daughters attend school about 10 minutes from where Oxford is and are extremely scared to go to school now. Numerous threats after the shooting bombarded schools around the Detroit area. School is supposed to be a safe place for our kids to go, but its not. Just about a month ago, there was a lockdown and hold in place at Escanaba Area Public Schools due to an outside threat. As a parent of two students, I appreciate that ...

Public health benefits

EDITOR: Ralph Blaiser’s November 30 letter to the editor does a nice job reviewing the evidence on the efficacy of different mask types for preventing one from acquiring a respiratory disease like COVID. In short, nothing beats an N-95. Unfortunately, his focus is on the personal benefits of mask wearing, not the public health benefits. From a public health perspective, even the flimsiest masks are reasonably effective at preventing an asymptomatic infected person from transmitting an infection to others. Hence, his conclusion: “But when I look around at the masks people are ...