# 2713
As promised, here is the link to the New South Wales University study on the effectiveness of facemasks in preventing transmission of influenza and ILI's (Influenza-like Illnesses), now online in February's journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
For those not inclined to read the entire study, a press release by the University of New South Wales gives a pretty good summary. I discussed this study on Sunday in my blog Study: Facemasks Reduce Transmission Of Respiratory Viruses.
Volume 15, Number 2–February 2009
Research
Face Mask Use and Control of Respiratory Virus Transmission in Households
C. Raina MacIntyre,
Simon Cauchemez, Dominic E. Dwyer, Holly Seale, Pamela Cheung, Gary Browne, Michael Fasher, James Wood, Zhanhai Gao, Robert Booy, and Neil Ferguson
Author affiliations: University of New South Wales School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (C.R. MacIntyre, H. Seale, J. Wood, Z. Gao); Children's Hospital at Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney (C.R. MacIntyre, P. Cheung, R. Booy, G. Browne); Imperial College London, London, UK (S. Cauchemez, N. Ferguson); Westmead Hospital, Sydney (D.E. Dwyer); and The Wentworth Division of General Practice, Sydney (M. Fasher)Abstract (reparagraphed for readability)
Many countries are stockpiling face masks for use as a nonpharmaceutical intervention to control virus transmission during an influenza pandemic. We conducted a prospective cluster-randomized trial comparing surgical masks, non–fit-tested P2 masks, and no masks in prevention of influenza-like illness (ILI) in households. Mask use adherence was self-reported.
During the 2006 and 2007 winter seasons, 286 exposed adults from 143 households who had been exposed to a child with clinical respiratory illness were recruited. We found that adherence to mask use significantly reduced the risk for ILI-associated infection, but <50% of participants wore masks most of the time.
We concluded that household use of face masks is associated with low adherence and is ineffective for controlling seasonal respiratory disease. However, during a severe pandemic when use of face masks might be greater, pandemic transmission in households could be reduced.
