Self appointed fact checkers are hard at work trying to disassociate mask wearing from risks of secondary bacterial infections.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fauci+2008+spanish+flu
The study that Dr. Fauci coauthored in 2008 is
Predominant Role of Bacterial Pneumonia as a Cause of Death in Pandemic Influenza: Implications for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness
It doesn't mentions masks, but its conclusions are:
"The majority of deaths in the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic likely resulted directly from secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by common upper respiratory–tract bacteria. Less substantial data from the subsequent 1957 and 1968 pandemics are consistent with these findings. If severe pandemic influenza is largely a problem of viral-bacterial copathogenesis, pandemic planning needs to go beyond addressing the viral cause alone (e.g., influenza vaccines and antiviral drugs). Prevention, diagnosis, prophylaxis, and treatment of secondary bacterial pneumonia, as well as stockpiling of antibiotics and bacterial vaccines, should also be high priorities for pandemic planning."
On the bright side, science (not dogma) is making progress, researchers are working on
Graphene face masks that battle bacteria.
