The Foegen Effect: How Mask Wearing Can Make You Sick By Zacharias Fögen June 7, 2022 Masks 2 minute read SHARE | PRINT | EMAILThe reason for this is what I call the Foegen effect: deep re-inhalation of condensed droplets or pure virions which were trapped in the mask as droplets can worsen the prognosis. Each of these steps has been documented in the literature.