American journal of infection control
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Surgical masks are used in hospitals to reduce postoperative infection in patients. The presence of aerosols containing pathogens makes it desirable to protect the medical staff as well. ⋯ The mask that has the highest collection efficiency is not necessarily the best mask from the perspective of the filter-quality factor, which considers not only the capture efficiency but also the air resistance. Although surgical mask media may be adequate to remove bacteria exhaled or expelled by health care workers, they may not be sufficient to remove the submicrometer-size aerosols containing pathogens to which these health care workers are potentially exposed.