The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was assigned an impact factor of 12.008 in 2021. This makes it a high-impact source of scientific information. Just a few hours ago, they published an incredibly thorough and comprehensive review of the masking literature. You can find the paper here.

With all of the data included, it is a beast; 326 pages-worth of high-quality science.

The take-home message is this:

Apparently, masking doesn’t seem to work in the context of the flu or SARS-CoV-2.

Who knew? [sarcasm] But, seriously, we need these kinds of comprehensive and objective studies to back-up what so many people have been voicing for the past three years.

I recently conducted my own extensive review of the masking literature over a period of approximately two months and drew almost the same conclusions as the authors of this Cochrane review:

1. Generally, masking studies have been of poor quality.

2. Many studies are biased.

3. There is a need for well-designed, well-controlled, large randomized controlled trials to obtain more definitive evidence.