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(CNN)The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its mask guidelines to recommend that people "clothing the virtually protective mask y'all can that fits well and that y'all volition wear consistently." The bureau describes well-fitting respirators approved by the National Institute of Occupational Safe & Wellness (NIOSH) -- such every bit N95 masks -- as offering "the highest level of protection."

The updated guidelines come after many public health experts have been recommending for months that people wear more effective masks -- particularly N95s -- and that the CDC alter its guidelines on mask-wearing.

"Cloth masks are niggling more than than facial decorations. There's no place for them in light of Omicron," CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency dr. and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, recently said on "CNN Newsroom."

3M Performance Particulate Respirator 8210Plus N95s are arranged for a photograph in New York state on July 29, 2020.

In crowded places, "you should exist wearing a KN95 or N95 mask," which can price a few dollars each, Wen added. Due to sure materials -- such every bit polypropylene fibers -- acting as both mechanical and electrostatic barriers, these masks better prevent tiny particles from getting into your nose or mouth and must be fitted to your face to role properly.

Here'due south what you need to know nigh masks like N95s, where to get them and how to use them safely.

Why are experts recommending N95s now?

N95s are more widely available now than they were earlier in the pandemic, and public wellness experts in the Usa also have a amend understanding that the primary driver of coronavirus infection is shared air, Erin Bromage, an associate professor of biological science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, told CNN terminal calendar month.

Fabric masks -- encouraged earlier in the pandemic -- can filter large droplets, while more effective masks, such equally N95s, tin can filter both big droplets and the smaller aerosols or particles potentially laden with airborne virus if infected people are present, Bromage said.

A fabric face covering has 75% in and outward leakage, which the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists defines as the "percentage of particles entering the facepiece" and the "percentage of particles exhaled by a source exiting the facepiece," respectively.

Properly fitted N95 respirators canonical past NIOSH can filter upward to 95% of particles in the air.

Why the Omicron variant of coronavirus has been infecting many people and so rapidly is currently unknown, simply information technology emphasizes the importance of wearing high-quality masks, Bromage said.

"If information technology is less virus needed, or if it is a person who's infected is putting more virus out, and so the role of a mask in this is, if we tin can cutting down the amount that you're actually breathing in, yous get more than time" before potentially getting infected, he added.

What's the departure between N95s and KN95s?

The deviation between N95 and KN95 masks is where each is certified, according to Oklahoma'southward state health department. The United states of america tests, certifies and regulates the N95s public wellness experts accept been recommending; in contrast, manufacturers in China test KN95s, merely the country's regime doesn't have a regulatory body that's validating them, said Aaron Collins, a professor emeritus at Mercer University's School of Engineering and a mechanical engineer with a background in aerosol science.

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Roughly sixty% of KN95 respirators NIOSH evaluated during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 didn't meet the requirements they were intended to meet, according to the CDC.

"If they're fabricated to the standard and certified by the appropriate boards in their state like NIOSH here, they all do basically the same affair," Bromage said. They "may run across the standards, just they're not certified to run into it. And there'southward others that clearly don't."

KF94 masks are Korean-standard masks tested and regulated by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, said Kelly Carothers, the managing director of government diplomacy and sustainability at Project N95, the national clearinghouse working to provide equitable access to personal protective equipment and coronavirus tests.

The CDC has advised people to not wear international respirators with exhalation valves, vents or other openings, as such openings can emit unfiltered exhaled air into surrounding areas -- which would be problematic if y'all're infected and breathing out virus particles that could infect others, Wen told CNN this calendar month.

The level of potential virus escape is depression, though, she added. N95s with exhalation valves work too as cloth or surgical masks do in protecting others. An N95 with a valve isn't recommended above N95s without valves, but if the quondam is the but mask you can vesture, do that, Wen suggested.

How can I spot a fake N95, KN95 or KF94?

NIOSH has a listing of approved N95 respirators. These masks should take a cup, flat fold or duck nib shape; two straps that go around your head; an adjustable wire olfactory organ bridge; and appropriate markings indicating NIOSH approval, the CDC says.

The agency also has resource for identifying counterfeit N95 masks, the signs of which include a total absence of markings on the mask or NIOSH spelled incorrectly. The resources also embrace properly putting the N95 on, taking it off and performing a respirator seal check.

The CDC has a list of signs a KN95 respirator might be counterfeit, which include manufacturer claims that the KN95 mask has been approved or certified past the CDC or NIOSH.

"If you're going to await for a KN95 mask, what we would recommend is to brand sure that it has the (Chinese authorities) standard written on the side of the mask, similar to NIOSH" standards for The states N95s, Carothers said.

Those Chinese government standards on KN95s should say GB 2626-2019 or GB 2626-2006, which was the standard before GB 2626-2019, Carothers brash.

The Korean ministry building has an online database of canonical KF94 manufacturers, but the webpage is in Korean and might not be totally and accurately translated by your internet browser's translation plugin. At that place are, however, some tips in English on these graphics for checking marks when buying KF94 masks, including packaging that features the words "Quasi-Drug Product" and "KF94."

Tin children wear N95s, KN95s or KF94s?

The N95s are medical masks made for wellness care workers, so, naturally, there aren't N95 masks designed or made for children, since merely adults would be working in health care settings.

Larger children within the elementary to middle schoolhouse age range and older could, withal, potentially clothing N95s that come in small sizes intended for adults, Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, told CNN this calendar month.

"If you run across an N95 as marketed for children, that should raise a red flag," Marr said. "In that location will be KN95 and KF94s that are designed for and marketed for children. With those, information technology's the same issue as we discussed for adults, which is to brand certain you're getting them from a trusted, reputable source.

Pictured is a KN95 mask for children in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York state, on January 13.

"... Certainly, for children, a KN95 or KF94 will provide better protection on average than a surgical mask or cloth mask," Marr added.

If you take trouble fitting a KN95, KF94 or N95 to your kid's face regardless of how many brands you lot take tried, you can necktie the ear loops or utilize toggles or cord lock adjusters to ensure the mask fits tightly enough, Marr suggested. The CDC's knot and tuck method could as well work.

Where tin can I become N95s, KN95s or KF94s?

Particularly labeled "surgical" N95s "should be reserved for use past healthcare personnel," the CDC says, but other N95s can be found at some abode improvement stores, retailers and drugstores.

N95 masks made by 3M -- a leading global manufacturer of N95 masks and the largest producer of the masks in the U.s.a. -- are available at all major retailers, including Dwelling Depot, Target, Lowes, Menards and Amazon's 3M store, 3M spokeswoman Jennifer Ehrlich told CNN this month.

Amazon has said it prohibits sellers from claiming their KN95 masks are "FDA-approved," since the U.s. Food and Drug Administration doesn't corroborate KN95 masks.

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"If you're going to go to Amazon, just make sure you're buying from the (N95) manufacturer'due south direct shop, like their official store" on Amazon, Collins said.

For both children and adults, Project N95 is a reputable source from which you can get N95s, KN95s and KF94s, Marr said.

Equally consumer demand for these masks take increased, at that place have been reports of toll gouging online. Some public health departments, such every bit those for Maryland and Milwaukee, are offering costless N95 masks.

Is reusing N95s condom?

In medical settings, health care staff ofttimes alter masks to avoid cross-contaminating a patient's room with equipment that was worn in a different space with an infectious person, Bromage explained. "When you take a medical-grade thing that'south unmarried use and and then put it in the general public, we're non worried near you cantankerous-contaminating unlike environments. ... It'due south really about providing protection to you."

So, yes, you can reuse your N95 mask.

Even after wearing an N95 in a crowded indoor setting -- such as a subway or grocery store -- an N95's material and filtration power aren't "going to degrade unless you lot physically rub it or poke holes in it," said Marr, adding that she wears her N95 masks for a week. "You'd accept to be in really polluted air ... for several days before it lost its ability to filter out particles."

However, there are things to keep in mind to reuse an N95 safely: When putting information technology on, avoid touching the front end outer part of the mask; instead handle information technology by its edges or straps.

Too, if you learn you were nigh someone infected with coronavirus while yous were wearing an N95, you lot should throw out that mask and so y'all don't risk contact with the virus, Bromage advised. Unknowingly being exposed to infected people while wearing an N95 is possible, so distancing as much equally possible can help reduce risk.

If the mask becomes clammy, visibly dirty, bent, creased, difficult to breathe through or otherwise damaged -- including from makeup -- you should replace information technology to avoid wearing a less constructive mask, Marr and Bromage said.

Can I somehow make clean N95s?

Y'all shouldn't wash an N95, since water would misemploy the mask's special static charge that helps it filter out viruses so well, Marr said.

What you can do is set the mask aside, because particles will dice off within several hours, she added, and that volition occur fifty-fifty faster when yous identify it in sunlight.

But the fact that warmer temperatures tin have a "sanitizing" effect on N95s doesn't mean you should throw the masks in an oven or microwave, Bromage said. That could ruin the mask. "I used to stick mine on the dashboard of my car in summertime, and that would practice more enough."

This story has been updated with additional data about N95s with exhalation valves.

CNN'due south Katherine Dillinger and John Bonifield contributed to this story.