Masks are a kind of sanitary products, which are generally worn on the mouth and nose to filter the air entering the mouth and nose to achieve the effect of blocking harmful gases, odors, droplets, viruses and other substances. They are made of gauze or paper and other materials.
Masks have a certain filtering effect on the air entering the lungs. When respiratory infectious diseases are prevalent, when working in dust and other polluted environments, wearing masks has a very good effect.
Masks can be divided into air filter masks and air supply masks.
Jin Yi "Follow the Old Horse": "At this time, he told me to pull the mask upwards to cover my nose so as not to get flying flowers into my nostrils."
China was the first to use masks in the world. In ancient times, in order to prevent dust and breath pollution, people in the court began to cover their mouth and nose with silk scarves. For example, "Li Shu" contained: "Cover your mouth, fearing to touch people." "Mencius Li Lou": "Xi Zimeng" If it is unclean, everyone will cover their noses. "Covering the nose with hands or sleeves is very unhygienic, and it is not convenient to do other things. Later, some people used a piece of silk cloth to cover their mouth and nose. In his book "Marco Polo's Travels", Marco Polo describes his experience of living in China for seventeen years. One of them: "In the palace of the Yuan Dynasty, the people who offered food all used silk cloth to cover their mouth and nose, as if they breathed, and did not touch the food." The silk cloth that covered the mouth and nose in this way was the original mask.
At the beginning of the 13th century, masks only appeared in the Chinese court. In order to prevent his breath from spreading to the emperor’s food, the waiter used a silk and gold thread to make a mask.
At the end of the 19th century, masks began to be used in the field of medical care. German pathologist Ledersch began to advise medical staff to use gauze masks to prevent bacterial infections
At the beginning of the 20th century, masks became a must-have for the public for the first time. The Spanish flu that swept the world claimed the lives of about 50 million people, and the general population was required to use masks to protect against the virus.
In the middle and late 20th century, the number of large-scale use of masks was obviously frequent. In the historical pandemics, masks have played an important role several times in preventing and blocking the spread of germs.
In March 1897, the German Midach introduced a method of covering the nose and mouth with gauze to prevent the invasion of bacteria. Later, someone made a six-layer gauze mask, sewed it on the collar, and turned it over to cover the nose and mouth. However, this kind of mask has to be held down by hand, which is extremely inconvenient. Later, someone came up with a way to tie the ears with a strap, which has become the mask that people often use today.
In 1910, the Northeast Plague broke out in Harbin, China. Dr. Wu Liande, then deputy supervisor of the Beiyang Army Medical College, invented the "Wu's Mask".
In 2003, the use and popularization of masks reached a new climax. The outbreak of SARS almost made the masks out of stock for a time. There were long lines in front of major pharmacies, and people rushed to buy masks.
In 2009, following the "bird flu" in 2004, the "H1N1 flu" made the mask army once again appear in front of the cameras of major news media around the world.
The emergence of the concept of PM2.5 air hazards in 2013 triggered the public's attention to air pollution, making masks and other protective products very popular during the haze weather.
On February 7, 2020, in the Disinfection Supply Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, more than 30 medical staff and volunteers used materials such as medical packaging non-woven fabrics, absorbent paper for equipment, and N95 meltblown filter cloth to make masks.
