VANCOUVER, Wash. - A local mom was surprised when she faced the scorn of a fellow shopper for having masks on her kids at the grocery store.

Two of Kristy Erickson's kids had colds. They were sneezing and had runny noses but she said she had to run to the store to get milk because she ran out. And with her husband at work, she took her 1-year-old and 3-year-old with her.

Erickson's husband, by the way, is a nurse and recommended that his wife be a responsible parent by putting a couple of masks on the kids, just in case they had something as serious as the swine flu.

But Erickson said she was shocked when a lady across from her in the shopping line at Winco decided to criticize her.

"She was like 'I hope you know that's not going to help anything. If it's not airtight, it's not going to keep the germs out from their face," Erickson said.

"The masks are a help but if you have something that's very contagious, there are form-fitting masks," said Erickson's doctor, Dr. Charles Fuchs with Evergreen Pediatric Clinic. "But they are very expensive and not readily available."

According to Dr. Fuchs and the CDC, no studies have been done showing that sick people who wear masks are effectively preventing the spread of something like the flu.

But Fuchs did point out that it can't hurt - if only to signal to other people you have a sick child and they may want to keep their distance.

Resources

• CDC: Use of masks
• CDC: Using face masks and respirators during a flu pandemic
• CDC: Masks and the swine flu