Yeah, bro, I am going to have to pass on the "River City Reader" link, even though their logo is just adorable, and stick with the UCSF report. But thanks!
"The River Cities' Reader is an independently owned alternative newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa."
"At UC San Francisco, we are driven by the idea that when the best research, the best teaching and the best patient care converge, we can deliver breakthroughs that help heal the world. Excellence is in our DNA. From genomics and immunology to specialty care for women and children, UCSF brings together the world’s leading experts in nearly every area of health. We are home to five Nobel laureates who have advanced the understanding of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, aging and stem cells. Our hospitals and educational programs consistently rank among the best in the country, according to the latest surveys by U.S. News & World Report. We are the leading university dedicated exclusively to the health sciences."
Since you'd rather shoot the messenger than educate yourself... i'll link you directly to the studies. NIH, Oxford etc... read if you like.
Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds. A larger study is needed to definitively establish noninferiority of no mask use.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
"
Conclusion: Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds."
Background: Conflicting recommendations exist related to which facial protection should be used by health care workers to prevent transmission of acute respiratory infections, including pandemic influenza. We performed a systematic review of both clinical and surrogate exposure data comparing...
www.cmaj.ca
"Although N95 respirators appeared to have a protective advantage over surgical masks in laboratory settings, our meta-analysis showed that there were insufficient data to determine definitively whether N95 respirators are superior to surgical masks in protecting health care workers against transmissible acute respiratory infections in clinical settings."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
"In conclusion, there is a limited evidence base to support
the use of masks and ⁄ or respirators in healthcare or com-
munity settings."
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we found evidence for a protective effect of facemasks and respirators against clinical respiratory infection
academic.oup.com
"Our analysis confirms the effectiveness of medical masks and respirators against SARS. Disposable, cotton, or paper masks are not recommended."
This cluster randomized clinical trial compares the effect of N95 respirators vs medical masks worn by health care personnel for prevention of workplace-acquired influenza and other viral respiratory infections in geographically diverse, high-exposure outpatient settings.
jamanetwork.com
"Among outpatient HCP, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
"There were no statistically significant differences in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza, laboratory-confirmed respiratory viral infections, laboratory-confirmed respiratory infection, and influenza-like illness using N95 respirators and surgical masks."