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. 2014 May;142(5):922-32.
doi: 10.1017/S095026881400003X. Epub 2014 Jan 24.

Hand hygiene and risk of influenza virus infections in the community: a systematic review and meta-analysis

V W Y Wong  1 , B J Cowling  2 , A E Aiello  3
Affiliations

Hand hygiene and risk of influenza virus infections in the community: a systematic review and meta-analysis

V W Y Wong et al. Epidemiol Infect. 2014 May.

Abstract

Community-based prevention strategies for seasonal and pandemic influenza are essential to minimize their potential threat to public health. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of hand hygiene interventions in reducing influenza transmission in the community and to investigate the possible modifying effects of latitude, temperature and humidity on hand hygiene efficacy. We identified 979 articles in the initial search and 10 randomized controlled trials met our inclusion criteria. The combination of hand hygiene with facemasks was found to have statistically significant efficacy against laboratory-confirmed influenza while hand hygiene alone did not. Our meta-regression model did not identify statistically significant effects of latitude, temperature or humidity on the efficacy of hand hygiene. Our findings highlight the potential importance of interventions that protect against multiple modes of influenza transmission, and the modest efficacy of hand hygiene suggests that additional measures besides hand hygiene may also be important to control influenza.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Flow diagram of the process and results of study selection.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Risk ratios for the effect of hand hygiene interventions with or without facemask on laboratory-confirmed influenza in studies conducted in developed countries.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Risk ratios for the effect of hand hygiene interventions with or without facemask on influenza-like illness in studies conducted in developed countries.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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