A brief history of masks: originated in China, the outbreak of infectious diseases prompted the improvement and popularization of masks
A brief history of masks: originated in China, the outbreak of infectious diseases prompted the improvement and popularization of masksThe emergence of new coronaviruses is raging, quickly causing a huge public health crisis. China CDC Tip: Wearing a mask is one of the important means to prevent new coronavirus.
How was this mask invented?
Masks originated in China
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people realized the influence of mouth and nose droplets, and often turned their heads in the conversation to avoid the nose and mouth droplets from contaminating each other to show respect. The record of "Book of Rites · Qu Lishang" is slightly different, saying: "Negative swords blame it, but it is correct." Annotation of Tang Dynasty great Confucius Kong Yingda: "Cover the mouth, fear will touch people."
There is also a record in "Menci Lilou" that "Xi Zi is unclean, everyone will pass his nose". Whether it is sideways, mouth or nose cover, staying in the original state of personal hygiene is neither hygienic nor convenient.
Until the beginning of the thirteenth century, masks took shape in Marco Polo's Travels. Marco Polo saw "In the Yuan Dynasty palace, all the people who donated food covered their mouths and noses with silk cloth, so as not to touch the food and drink." The silk cloth that covered the nose and mouth became the first in the world Masks. The appearance of masks indicates that people already have a sense of personal protection.
Advances in medicine have promoted the development of masks
In the spring of 1847, Ignatius Philip Semelves, an assistant professor at the First Obstetric Ward of the Vienna General Hospital in Austria, accidentally discovered that the infection was caused by pathogenic bacteria. In 1861, French microbiologist Louis Pasteur confirmed the presence of bacteria in the air using a gooseneck. The results of these two studies indicate the presence of dangerous germs in the air.
In 1897, German microbiologist Kyle Frog and his students conducted a bacterial clinical experiment in order to verify the harmfulness of respiratory droplets. They spoke loudly, coughed and sneezed at 60 cm, 2 m and 6 m from the petri dish. The results showed that bacteria grew in the petri dishes.
As the research on bacteria continues to deepen, scientists' requirements for the protection of bacteria have also increased accordingly. In 1895, German pathologist Ledchi discovered that airborne bacteria can also cause wound infections. Based on this discovery, he invented early medical masks. He advocates that it is necessary for medical staff to cover their noses and noses during surgery. The new type of coronavirus is spreading at will. It is necessary to wear a mask to provide double protection for medical staff and patients.
Basing on practicality promotes the improvement of masks
The mask invented by Ledchi only uses a single layer of gauze, and the gauze wraps tightly around the nose and mouth, which not only makes breathing difficult, but also feels uncomfortable. In 1897, the German doctor Mikulic student Huberna and others realized that the mask was not easy to use at the time, and began to implement improvements. They cut two layers of gauze into a rectangle, placed a wire support between the gauze, and then placed the support Two straps are sewn on both sides to fix the strap on the back of the user's head. With the help of the bracket, the mask changed from a flat surface to a three-dimensional one, which not only solved the problem of poor breathing, but was also convenient and reliable.
The improvement of the mask did not stop there. In 1899, the French doctor Paul Bertie discovered that only six-layer gauze masks can effectively prevent the spread of oral droplets. He sewed this kind of mask on the collar and turned it over and pressed it with his hand. This was obviously very inconvenient. He sewed two straps on the upper edge of the six-layer mask to tie it, and fixed the two straps on the lower edge to the collar. It is the continuous optimization of the mask structure that can deal with the infection crisis of the new coronavirus.
The outbreak of infectious diseases has promoted the popularity of masks
Soon after the birth of the mask, it faced the test of infectious diseases. On October 25, 1910, pneumonic plague was introduced from Manchuria, China, through Lake Baikal, Russia via the Middle East Railway. On November 8, this malignant infectious disease spread to Harbin. Pneumonic plague spread from northeast to Hebei and Shandong, and the situation may deteriorate further.
In December, Wu Liande, deputy superintendent of the Beiyang Army Medical College in Tianjin, was ordered to serve as the chief medical officer. He dispatched medical personnel from Beiyang Military Medical Hall, Beiyang Medical Hall, Union Medical College and Zhili, Shandong and other places to the epidemic area. As a doctor of medicine at Cambridge University, Wu Liande came to the local area to investigate the transmission of pneumonic plague. He discovered that the culprit responsible for the rapid spread of pneumonic plague was droplets.
Wu Liande immediately implemented strict epidemic prevention and control measures in Harbin, in which he invented a new type of mask. This kind of mask, which only costs two and a half minutes of the national currency, is continuously supplied to the public under the promotion of Woodland.
With the help of masks, the spread of pneumonic plague was curbed. The pneumonic plague that swept through 5 provinces and 6 cities completely died after 60,000 deaths in four months. In this century of disaster, the contribution of masks is indispensable. In order to appreciate Wu Liande's achievements, the mask he invented was called the "Wu Shi mask", which has been used to this day. In 1935, Woodland was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The thinker Liang Qichao commented on him: "For fifty years of scientific input, the middle school can meet the world as a scholar, and Dr. Wu Xinglian (Wu Liande, the word Xinglian) is only one."
Not only China, the world soon realized the importance of masks. In the spring of 1918, the two-year Spanish flu swept the world. After three rounds of transmission, a total of 1 billion people worldwide have been unfortunately infected, and the death toll is conservatively estimated to exceed 25 million. The madness of the Spanish flu has caused severe damage and indirectly prompted the early end of the First World War. At that time, governments of all countries forced people to wear masks to curb the spread of the Spanish flu. The epidemic caused by "SARS" and the new coronavirus has made masks favored again, and many areas were out of stock.
Changes in the environment enrich the function of the mask
In fact, masks have other functions besides blocking the nose and mouth droplets. On December 5, 1952, the exhaust gas emitted by local factories and residential buildings in London, under the anti-cyclone meteorological effect, harmful substances stayed in the sky above London, forming a "toxic haze" composed of high concentrations of sulfur dioxide and smoke particles. An architect claimed that he had seen sulfur-containing dirt up to 4 inches thick on the wall.
Inhalation of poisonous haze causes damage to the human respiratory system, leading to the occurrence of diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia and so on. In four days, at least 4,000 people died, and in the next two months, another 8,000 people died of respiratory diseases. In recent years, when winter haze comes, masks are among the most popular seasonal products. Severe air pollution has made people more aware of the protective value of masks and has become an effective anti-haze artifact.
The role of wearing masks to protect personal health has been recognized by the mainstream of society. According to statistics from the China Textile Business Association, the demand for all kinds of masks in China reached 4 billion in 2018.
Now, new coronaviruses are making a comeback. According to the requirements of infectious disease prevention and control, everyone must wear N95 masks or medical surgical masks. Cut off the spread of the source of the disease, starting with a mask. The mask returned to block Feimo's original heart and continue to fulfill the mission of protecting health.
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