Masks and hand hygiene could prevent spread of influenza
A study by Dr Benjamin Cowling from the University of Hong Kong and colleagues on the efficacy of masks and hand hygiene in preventing flu virus transmission, has found that if a member of a household has flu, provided the other members adopt a mask and hand hygiene strategy within 36 hours, transmission to other household members is reduced.
The research, published in The Annals of Internal Medicine, was carried out in Hong Kong and involved 407 patients with flu symptoms who tested positive for influenza A or B virus and 794 household members in 259 households.
The households were randomised in three groups. In the control group, comprising 134 households, prevention only involved lifestyle education. In 136 households prevention involved hand hygiene and in 137 households prevention systematically involved both masks and hand hygiene.
Hand hygiene, with or without use of masks, “seemed to reduce influenza transmission”, the researchers found, but "the differences in transmission compared with the control group were not statistically significant".
However, in the 154 households in which interventions were implemented within 36 hours of symptom onset in the index patient, transmission of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed infection seemed to be reduced. In this group, hand hygiene and the wearing of masks reduced transmission by 67%.
The researchers conclude that “non-pharmaceutical interventions are important for the mitigation of pandemic and inter-pandemic influenza". www.apmhealtheurope