Effectiveness of N95 Respirators Versus Surgical masks in Protecting Health Care Workers From Acute Respiratory Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Researchers in the Canadian Medical Association Journal reviewed clinical and exposure data to measure the ability of N95 and surgical masks to prevent acute respiratory infection. 

Several electronic databases and the grey literature for relevant studies published from January 1990 to December 2014 were searched. They identified 6 clinical studies overall that compared N95 and surgical masks.  The analysis showed there was insufficient data to conclude N95 masks performed better than surgical masks to prevent acute respiratory infection.  Read More>>