By Paul Haven
The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — The cloth patches in green, blue and white are everywhere, clamped tight over the mouth and nose of teachers, toddlers, policemen and drunks. Even the statue at the church of St. Jude, patron of lost causes, has been fitted with a light-blue surgical mask to ward off swine flu. But do they work?
While Mexico has handed out millions of facial coverings, U.S. officials have held off, saying there is little evidence of their effectiveness. Some doctors warn they might even be harmful, causing people to take risks — like venturing into crowds or neglecting to wash hands — in the mistaken belief that the mask protects them.
The ubiquitous masks give an eerie, unsettling air to this overcrowded city, as if 20 million people have entered a scene from some kind of apocalyptic future. They’re also a reminder of an equally frightening episode: Technicolor versions of those dotting scratchy black and white photographs from the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic, which claimed up to 50 million lives worldwide.
Full Story: Officials say medical-grade masks efficient for use