There has been a lot of media attention to the swine flu vaccine lately. A third of parents oppose the idea of flu jab for their kids, according to a poll early this month. Parents are concerned about potential side effects. If many parents with healthy kids are concerned, one can imagine the stress on parents having kids with a medical condition. They certainly don’t want to take any chances.
In order to provide some protection while avoiding the vaccine, some parents found Totobobo mask when they are searching for a small fitting mask for their children. Some of these children are going through cancer treatments and therefore are vulnerable to airborne viruses or other pathogens. I notice one of these parents, Debbie Witter, actually put up a website called Free Help For Cancer to share her experience, including the frustration, learning and joys, of their journey searching for a better cure for Kayla, her 7 years old girl.
Let Debbie’s own words to explain her intend:
Our 7-year-old daughter, Kayla, was diagnosed with Leukemia on the 4th of January 2008. Suffice it to say that our lives were turned upside down by this devastating news. To make matters worse it soon became evident that there was no simple path to follow and no easy answers.
It is my hope that the information and discoveries I share on this website will lighten the burden for others who may be going through similar experiences. Please join us in our ongoing journey in dealing with this dreaded disease.
Visitors from India keep coming in, there is no sign of slowing down. How do they come to us? A significant proportion of them are coming from the search engines (Google, Yahoo or Bing).
The search terms reflect what they are looking for. Quite a number of visitors are searching for reusable N95 mask.
For example:
- How to keep N95 mask clean
- N95 mask washable
- is N95 mask reusable or not
- for how long N95 mask be used
- N95 washable mask
On the contrary Totobobo mask is easily clean and reusable. The anti-virus property makes reuse safer. There are two types of filters available: 94% and 96%. The 96% filter is 1% more protective than N95. The high quality reusable mask combine with economic replaceable filter refill is probably the most advanced protection you can get now. Thanks to Google/ Yahoo and Bing for doing a good job in guiding our visitors.
Recently we travel to Taiwan and Hong Kong. To be on the safe side we all put on our Totobobo mask on the plane and in the airport. Who knows the one sitting next to you can be coming from a H1N1 flu infected country? This was the “acid test” to see if the mask really work in the context of air travel.
I’ve customized the masks for the two boys and Sharon in advance. So that part is not an issue. Putting it on was easy for Sharon and the younger boy, but it was confusing for the elder one. It turn out that the strap of his mask got entangled a bit and he couldn’t slide the strap along easily. I help him to remove the rubber band and disentangle the strap. He mange to put it on afterward.
A point to note about customization, it is not always true that smaller face need smaller mask. If it fit and seal well, a larger Totobobo mask is usually more comfortable to wear. So if you find the mask too big, start by trimming it a step, never jump to the smallest size immediately. You may find an intermediate size that seal very well and is comfortable to wear even for a long time.
Wearing the mask for an hour or so is not uncomfortable. In fact we pretty much forgot about it because it didn’t interfere with what we do. We all wear glasses, sometimes we read magazine, sometimes we watch TV and sometimes I was busy taking photos
We had to remove our masks when the food came. We just remove the top strap, pull the mask down such that the contracted top strap now keeps the mask closed, and we just let the mask hang around our neck while eating. We put the mask back after the meal. The elder son fall asleep and the younger one kept watching TV.
I noticed many passenger used surgical masks. One family of three used N95 cup-shaped mask. But the huge N95 mask was not fitting the child and clearly he was not getting much more protection than those wearing surgical mask.
Some curious passenger ask where we got the mask from and even the stewards are interested in it. The surgical mask they wear is not giving them the protection they really need. It’s a pity that they have to face so many people from all over the world during the trip but not getting the protection they deserved. Anyone with friends working as air steward? Perhaps you should let them know about Totobobo.
Leaving the plane, we took off our mask when we were shopping in the airport shops, there seems to be more space between people and none of the staff or customers looked sick. Keeping it hanging around the neck was most appropriate because we needed to put on the mask again when we go through the next risk spot- the crowded custom.
News release
(Singapore, 4 May 2009) – As swine flu (H1N1) continues to spread, young children are at greater risk because of the lack of child-friendly respiratory masks. The customisable child-friendly Totobobo mask offers parents a reassuring solution and is seeing strong demand from around the world.
Totobobo mask fit children with small face size
The patented Totobobo mask was created by product designer Francis Chu to meet the need for children respiratory protection. Made from ‘Totosoft’, a custom-blend soft plastic formulated using FDA approved sources, the mask is also equipped with two powerful German filters. The mask can be trimmed to fit children as young as five-years-old. Parents can see through the transparent mask and double check if it fits their child snuggly and leaving no gaps.
For a mask to be effective, it has to fit the face snuggly, so that airborne viruses cannot seep through any gaps. Children wearing adult-sized respiratory masks, whether NIOSH-certified or not would be exposed to contaminated air due to the ill fit.
normal N95 mask does not fit children
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the USA tests and certifies respiratory devices on the market such as the current standard N95 masks. This test is however only conducted on adults. The certification determines the filtration efficiency and does not guarantee how well the masks fit. All NIOSH-certified respiratory masks like the current N95 are fixed sizes and do not come in smaller sizes for children.
In 2003, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) first broke out, Francis himself a parent of two, got first-hand experience of the anxiety of a parent concerned about his children’s safety. His children were only six and eight-years-old at the time and he could not find a mask that would fit their small faces.
“I felt hopeless knowing that my children were in imminent danger if they go into crowded public space like schools or playgrounds and that I could not do anything about it.”
“The sense of threat prompt me into looking for a design solution that will fit all face shapes including children.” explains Francis.
The customisable Totobobo respiratory mask that Francis eventually created, after experimenting with hundreds of prototypes, fits both adult and child. Its soft and light material (only 20grams) makes it less irritable for children who might find it uncomfortable wearing a normal mask.
“I believe that I was thinking from a parent’s perspective during the design process and that pushed me harder to make the mask as practical as possible. I am just happy knowing that with the child-friendly Totobobo mask, parents now have a practical way to better assured of their children’s safety,” adds Francis.
“Rohan is glad that the dirt is collected on the filter, not in his lung.”
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