In 2020 and 2021 anyone claiming Covid was like influenza was dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. In 2024, the NHS is trying to treat influenza with all the crazy superstitions used for Covid. The concept of asymptomatic influenza and the blind faith in masks would, in any other time, have been laughed at. Yet, here we are, drowning in these myths, perpetuated by authorities and swallowed whole by the public. These ideas were crazy for Covid and they are crazy for influenza.
The Farce of Asymptomatic Influenza
Let’s begin with this absurd notion that influenza can spread from people who are not showing any symptoms. The idea of asymptomatic transmission is not new — it was introduced back in 1910 by Dr. Charles Chapin, the Health Officer of Providence, Rhode Island, and a prominent figure in early public health. Chapin was eager to stamp out the idea of airborne transmission and to pin the transmission of all infectious disease on close person to person spread. Influenza was his big sticking point. Instead of admitting that the evidence pointed towards airborne transmission, Chapin invented the myth of asymptomatic spread as a way to explain rapid outbreaks of influenza. He wrote:
The rapidity with which epidemic influenza spreads, its sudden contemporaneous appearance at many distant points, and the difficulty of tracing the route of infection, render it almost certain that there must in this disease be many mild atypical cases, and many persons infected but showing no symptoms.
He had no evidence. He retained an element of caution, however, admitting
We must be on our guard lest our generalisation carry us too far. It may be a fact that most diseases are not airborne, and yet further investigation may show that certain other diseases concerning which we are still in doubt may be usually transmitted in this way.
PCR testing bolstered the idea of asymptomatic disease but the incredibly sensitive nature of this testing means that single aerosols containing a handful of virus particles are enough to trigger a positive test. Anyone breathing contaminated air could be accused of being ‘asymptomatic’. Even when a virus particle enters a cell, if the person has an effective immune response he or she will not ever reach a viral load that would cause infection in others, yet he or she would be described as ‘asymptomatic’. These are healthy people not spreaders of disease. The sick, with many cells replicating the virus, are the source of virus in the air. However, the rapid trajectory of every wave and the fact that the percentage of susceptible household contacts matches the percentage who acquire antibodies at the end of a wave is evidence that everyone is exposed and only those susceptible to that wave are infected. Blaming infected individuals for spread in a scenario where everyone is exposed in a matter of weeks is illogical and dangerous. Protection from respiratory infections comes from our immune systems, not from removing the sick.
The Masking Illusion
This winter has seen a resurgence in NHS hospitals demanding patients and visitors wear masks. The idea that wearing masks will protect us from respiratory viruses is yet another concept that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Our respiratory systems have evolved with a robust defence mechanism — our mucus — that does far more to protect us than any mask could. If the world were not so gripped by fear, the suggestion that healthy individuals should wear masks to ‘protect’ the robust, thick, mucus layers in their lungs would be comical.
The evidence for masks preventing viral transmission is weak at best. Surgical and cloth masks do not stop the fine aerosol particles that are primarily responsible for spreading respiratory infections. The aerosols of the same size as those that contain virus particles can be seen as they turn white when we exhale into cold air. These aerosols pass straight through cloth and surgical masks, rendering such ‘barriers’ pointless. Medical grade masks can filter these aerosols but they cannot provide protection from eventual exposure unless worn constantly, without gaps or touching and while wearing goggles.
Now, if transmission really were happening through droplets — larger particles that fall to the ground relatively quickly — then yes, masks would be somewhat effective. It was Dr. Charles Chapin again who, in 1910, described these larger particles as “mouth spray”, noting that they “contain the most bacteria and which settle out of the air in the space of a few feet from the mouth”. He believed that these droplets only travelled within a three-foot radius, despite admitting that “droplets from speaking” could “float for five to six hours” and travel “55 metres along a corridor, and up two flights of stairs”. He was quick, however, to dismiss this, saying: “It should not be assumed that because bacteria are observed to fall on agar plates from the air of a room, the air is infectious.”
There is an established body of literature that details that masking does nothing to reduce influenza infections. It was dismissed in 2020 and 2021 on the basis that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was somehow mechanically different. Now, it is just being ignored in place of superstition.
The Masking of Common Sense
It’s difficult to ignore the absurdity of it all. In a world where reason had not been hijacked by fear, the idea that we should wear masks to prevent illness in healthy individuals would be nothing more than a bad joke. But people bought into the narrative and it is proving very hard to make people unbelieve the lies they have been told. It seems that the authority of anything pronounced by the NHS carries far more weight than the truth.
Dr. Chapin’s myth of asymptomatic spread was an error that should have been corrected long ago. Instead, it has lingered, morphing into a widespread belief that healthy individuals pose a threat. Imagine if we had dedicated the last four and a half years to studying why around one in 10 have a failure of the mucus protection of our respiratory tract each winter. Imagine if we had accepted that, like all airborne respiratory viruses, none of our attempts at control would work and instead of the intense focus on this one problem we had ignored it and continued living in freedom. Imagine if the huge resources spent on Covid policy were instead directed towards improving the world. Imagine if the catastrophic policies introduced in a panicked state of fear had never happened and lives had not been lost as a result of them. Yet, here we are, still clinging to these outdated and scientifically unsupported beliefs.
Dr. Clare Craig is a diagnostic pathologist and Co-Chair of the HART group. She is the author of Expired – Covid the untold story.
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Even if masks worked so many people wear them improperly – but no-one calls them out.
I’ve seen people wear the mask under their nose, poorly fitted with big gaps at the sides, and over bushy beards. No-one calls them out because most people don’t believe they work. They are only a sign of social compliance.
I was in Paris towards the end of the pandemic when it was still compulsory to wear a mask on the metro.
My usual sunflower lanyard trick was clearly no use in France so I carried a mask that I slid over my chin after boarding a carriage. My mouth and nose was completely uncovered.
Nobody ever said anything.
The whole thing was a joke.
So many countries were bought and paid for, France being one of them.
They are also a sign of fear of the unknown, because we have all been lied to by the medical experts we depend on to keep us safe. Birx, and Tony to name two. I am sure the Uk has its own “medical experts” who delivered misinformation to their fellow countrymen/women.
Dr Craig should point out that there was NO PANDEMIC, it was unleashed for other nefarious purposes. It had nothing to do with health. It was killing and compliance. Oh and directing money to the elites from taxpayers.
It was a plandemic. And boy did it cause a tsunami.
I remember thinking and writing at the time that the logical next step would be to treat other respiratory illnesses like “covid”. Another conspiracy theory.
Let’s face it. We just don’t know how these diseases spread. Too many variables.
From.the moment that they are incapable of explaining why some people get sick and others don’t when seemingly subjected to very similar exposure/conditions, they don’t know anything.
It’s all speculation.
I’m not sure that’s right. Everyone has a unique immune system based on their age, general health and their previous exposure to infection. Two people exposed to a virus in the same circumstances may react differently according the ability of the immune system to mount a defence.
Remember the ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise ship placed in quarantine, despite equal exposure on board to SCov2 a good percentage of people remained well even though they must have been exposed to the virus. Their immune systems were already primed by previous corona virus infections.
The entire reason why some and infected and some are not is probably entirely controlled by vitamin D levels and the immune response. Almost everyone in Britain has very low Vit. D levels in winter, and lowish the rest of the year because we don’t have enough sunlight this far North. People I know and I, who take 1000 iu supplement every day simply do not get ill, at least very rarely. Many others who do not get ill often. Why the Government do not give supplements to everyone is odd, it would save the NHS billions at very low cost. If they had Covid would have been very minor, perhaps that is why!
A lot it is managerial syllogism; “something must be done”, etc. Not based on real evidence, and exploiting the lack of proper education for many of us, unfortunately. A good job, well done, Care!
And the self important waste of space that is Bridget Phillipson is aiming to ensure a lack of proper education will be enshrined in law…. Thank F**k I have no grandchildren.
John
Sadly our politicians are exponents of”not based on real evidence”.
This present government are masters of the art of opinion not based on fact or understanding.
Don’t give them any credit, they are simply thick as mince and brain dead with it!
As the mask mandate came in I went to a haberdashery and bought some gauze and elastic to make my own cloth mask.
Why?
This sort of statement just kills me.
The modern obsession with “making the world better” is nauseating Everyone seems to have a grand scheme of how to make the world a better place and more often than not it involves telling others what to do.
If you really want to make the world a better place I’ve got the perfect formula. It’s not easy but with effort it can be achieved. It’s simple but hard: don’t be an asshole. That’s it. Every day, as you get on with your life avoid being an asshole. Look after yourself, do what’s best for you and your friends and family but do it without being an asshole to someone else.
If everyone did that, big if, we’d have a great world.
Meanwhile, big schemes to make the world better typically end up causing misery. Not always but often.
If the resources wasted on covid along with that being wasted on global warming had not been stolen from the people and businesses in taxes everyone would have been able to spend it themselves much better.
So true
Money wasn’t wasted on the C1984 and global warming they were the excuses. Huge sums were diverted to the elites via big corporations and especially the pharmaceuticals. The reasons given for the expenditure are irrelevant – PPE, Track and Trace, “vaccines”, covid marshalls etc etc. Spend, spend, spend was the order of the day. The intention was to generate debt, so much debt that we are where we are now. And the solution is to carry on wasting money but now we have to believe that we are responsible and must repay all the borrowing.
As clear as day we are being manoeuvred to the point where the country has to declare bankruptcy and at that point it will be a case of fight or submit – Kneel before Kneel.
The 1689 Bill of Rights is on similar lines regarding a small state and only when causing other people harm, should the Law intervene. Real harm, not the implied hurt feelings in today’s “be kind” fascism.
Also what was with all those TOK-TOK dancing nurses, if they want to portray C19 as a deadly pandemic then faffing around empty wards doesn’t garner confidence.
I always asked mask fanatics “if you’re wearing your magic mask, why does it matter that I’m not – unless masks don’t actually work?” I never received a credible answer.
Masks were just symbols of fear, control and compliance.
Hence that silly argument that masks were worn to protect people other than the wearer. It nudged the hesitant into compliance, just in case the argument was valid.
Dr.Craig, thank you for your words of wisdom. You have worked so hard these past four years in presenting the truth. It is very much appreciated.