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Despite concerns about shortages, cost, and practicality of N95 respirators recommended by the CDC to protect healthcare workers against influenza, a new report says surgical masks, which are cheaper and easier to use, work just as well. "Infection occurred in 50 nurses (23.6%) in the surgical mask group and in 48 (22.9%) in the N95 respirator group," the authors wrote. They concluded that the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza was similar in nurses wearing the surgical masks and those wearing the N95 respirators.