I'm at a small healthcare management conference, where I'm the only attendee (of about 40-50) wearing a mask.

I'm reminded of Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, who (borrowing from wikipedia) demonstrated in 1861 that requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands reduced the maternal mortality rate from 18% to less than 2%.

Despite his research, Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could offer no theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand-washing, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it.