The use of the face mask by the person with symptoms of infectious-contagious respiratory disease: the prevention of spread in public places

Thousands of people worldwide die annually from respiratory diseases, with the elderly population being the most affected. According to the report by the Ministry of Health, in Brazil in 2019, 1,109 people died from influenza, with 54.6% of these deaths being patients over 60 years of age. Since the beginning of the year 2020, the world population has been alarmed by the fast and growing index of coronavirus infection (COVID -19) which has been responsible for infecting thousands of people around the world and causing more than 9,000 deaths. Today in Brazil (03/22/2020), according to the latest bulletin from the Ministry of Health, there are 1546 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in all states, the vast majority in São Paulo, with a record of 25 deaths and 3 in Rio de Janeiro. January. For the prevention of influenza, WHO recommends the adoption of pharmacological measures, such as vaccines; and non-pharmacological measures such as hygiene habits, (eg hand washing), isolation of the contaminated individual and the use of facial masks by health professionals. However, there are still no vaccines for the prevention of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the main WHO guidelines for preventing contamination are hygiene habits such as washing hands, covering mouth and nose when sneezing and social isolation. In Brazil, facial masks are recommended especially within hospital environments; and given the concern with prevention outside the hospital area, this project aims to address the use of facial masks, by people with symptoms of some respiratory disease, in public places as a preventive method against the spread of such diseases. Thus, the objective of this research will be to promote the population's awareness of the importance of preventing infectious and contagious respiratory diseases; understand the reasons for non-adherence or adherence to the use of the mask by sick people; and encourage the use of the mask as a measure of individual protection and non-propagation of respiratory diseases. The current research will be of a "quanti-qualitative" character, and will have Alfred Schütz's Social Phenomenology as a methodological framework for the analysis of qualitative data; demographic data of the quantitative part, analyzed with the aid of programs such as Excel and SPSS. The research will be carried out with the general and elderly population in a very busy corridor between the two Tatuapé train and subway stations, on the east side, in the city of São Paulo. As a result, we hope through the reasons that led them to wear masks or not, to be able to contribute to the prevention of respiratory diseases and to reduce the number of deaths mainly among the elderly population. (AU)