Patent ID: 8678002

Claim:
A facial mask for use in decreasing the transmission of one or more than one human pathogen to and from a human wearer of the facial mask, the facial mask comprising: a) a facepiece comprising a front side, a back side and a perimeter around the front side and back side, and the facepiece is configured to cover the mouth and nose of the wearer of the facial mask; and b) one or more than one extension attached to the facepiece for securing the facial mask to the head of the wearer; where the facepiece comprises a material comprising three or more than three layers; where one or more than one of the three or more than three layers comprises a fabric having a hydroxyl group or an amino group, the fabric comprising one or more than one binding substance covalently bound to the fabric; where the one or more than one binding substance comprises one or more than one human pathogen binding group that chemically attaches the human pathogen to the binding substance; where the human pathogen binding group is covalently bound to the hydroxyl group or the amino group of the fabric, and the human pathogen binding group is selected from the group consisting of a sulfate group and a sulfonate group; where the fabric further comprises one or more than one type of multivalent metallic ion or metallic salt; where one or more than one of the three or more than three layers comprises a heat-moldable fabric; and where the fabric has a degree of sulfation or sulfonation between 0.02 and 2.