Facemasks and Hand Hygience to Prevent Influenza Transmission

With the recent outbreaks of more severe cases of influenza such as H1N1 and Swine Flu the media has done a great job at showing the general public how vulnerable we as a society can be to viral infections. Viruses that just decades ago had no possibility of crossing the host-species barrier are now somehow mutating and gaining the ability to adapt to and survive in a new host species (humans). The science community is scrambling to create vaccines that are effective in preparation for the next flu season. Our jobs as nurses is to educate the patients on the importance of yearly flu vaccines, especially to those that are most at risk i.e. the sick, young and elderly populations. But what I as a nursing student additionally am interested in finding out is what we can teach our patients to do in addition to receiving the yearly flu vaccine that will effectively either help prevent infection or will help stop the spread of the virus when it does occur. Which is what the paper Facemasks and Hand Hygiene to Prevent Influenza Transmission in Households focuses on as well stating in their background that few studies have been done that focused on the effectiveness of non-medical interventions in order to prevent the spread of influenza (Cowling et al. 2009, p.437).

This was a quasi-experimental study that was conducted using households that are located in Hong Kong. They chose 407 people and a total of 259 households who visited one of 45 outpatient clinics. The patients chosen for this study initially presented with at least two acute respiratory illness symptoms that then tested positive for either influenza type A or B. To qualify they also had to have at least 2 other people in the household who had no symptoms for the past 14 days. They were then placed into three groups that were computer generated: one control and two experimental groups. The control group was informed of basic lifestyle measures to prevent the spread of infection. The second group was informed as well but also asked to participate in mandatory hand hygiene; the third group was identical to the second one except in addition they were asked to comply with mandatory face mask application. A home visit collecting informed consent, baseline demographic data and, nasal and throat swab specimens from everyone in the house over the age of 2 was scheduled within two days ideally within 12 hours of the patient testing positive. They were instructed to keep symptom diaries. After the