I still wear one in crowds. I had a lobe of a lung removed due to a rare cancer. I'll never be cured, but will slowly loose lung function as airways are blocked. If I'm lucky it's a disease I die with and not of, so I am treating my lungs like the delicate little flowers they are and fighting to avoid any and all respiratory diseases I can. I am now also queen of the hand sanitiser when out in public. The stuff from Bath and Bodyworks is da bomb, smells like hand cream.