Correct, fit is essential, otherwise the germs come in with whatever you breath. I'll admit to being at the extreme, but a $110 3M Series 6000 whole facemask / respirator makes some sense for me in the event of a pandemic.

- one, my dad is in assisted living, a very high risk population. I can visit and hope to remain unexposed, assist with his care if necessary, as long as I take precautions.
- two, same for community volunteers who opt to help with care and body disposal as the pandemic works its way through the population. I am not certain that I will volunteer for this (assuming I'm not struck down by the flu right off), I haven't made up my mind. Under normal circumstances my city might give a volunteer a facemask respirator, or have me share one with another worker, while we're working. Or, they might be under-prepared and ask us to wear a half-mask, or N95, which may not provide adequate protection.
- three, going in to work puts me in an environment with lots of recirculated air, no way would I stay there any longer than is necessary. I can work remotely.
- four, in the event a family member gets sick I can work with a whole facemask and minimize my exposure still.

I'm seriously thinking of additional masks for my wife and immediate family - 'just in case.' My wife thinks I'm nuts, my brother in law the doctor thinks its not a bad idea. We agree though, I'm just as likely to come down with the flu early in any pandemic as not, someone else might use my mask - but the precautions and barriers you have if you are not infected will make a big difference. Odds are good our kids will get sick and get us sick. Life's a crapshoot.

$110 or so for a facemask, another $30 for enough N95 particulate filters to last through a pandemic (estimated at 2 12 week episodes), plus a heavy supply of alcohol based wipes to clean the mask between uses (also essential). I think $10 for the attachment for my prescription lenses. When I costed out an equivalent number of disposable N95 masks, the facemask was only a little bit more expensive for the duration of an expected pandemic. I think OSHA did a study of this as well.

But make sure it fits, try it on with the help of someone who knows what they're doing, and wear the mask around during expected work for a while to ensure a proper fit and the fact you can tolerate it for the expected timeframe.