https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000954
Discussion
simple answer: no difference. the efficacy will be about similar to a medical grade 3-ply
most study only focus on 3 domain :
3-ply medical grade,
n95,
cloth masked.
all these in-between have no clear evidence
a 3-ply face mask is generally good for most time. drs have been using it even before covid. a n95 is only necessary in aerosolized situation (like a dentist doing scaling) while cloth mask is not effective
I find it seems the main stream medical consensus is an extremely trust-maximized system. The standard food pyramid for example receive almost no pushbacks or challenge to its authority for decades.
not really. to be fair there is a lot of medical research that challenges previous belief. the problem is with the publication actually. and the design of the study.
like for example, all the above is true if one adheres to perfect use of mask, which is not practical. which is why i dont wear one