# 4279
On Thursday I wrote a bit about the University of Michigan study on the efficacy of hand washing and facemasks in slowing the spread of flu like illnesses in Study: Effectiveness of NPIs Against ILI's.
Last night Robert Roos, Editor of CIDRAP News, took a much closer look at that study - along with an accompanying JID editorial – and solicited comments from a number of experts.
The result is an exemplary piece of science reporting, and is highly recommended.
Masks plus hand hygiene reduced ILI in college dorm study
Robert Roos
News Editor
Jan 22, 2010 (CIDRAP News) – College students living in dorms reduced their risk of influenza-like illness (ILI) at the peak of the flu season by wearing surgical masks a few hours a day and practicing good hand hygiene, say researchers from the University of Michigan.
In the last 3 weeks of a 6-week intervention in 2007, students who wore masks and had hand hygiene training lowered their rate of ILI by a significant 35% to 51% compared with a control group, says the report, published online by the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
A second group that used face masks alone also had a lower rate of ILI than the controls in the last few weeks of the study, but the difference was not significant. And neither group had a significant reduction in the cumulative ILI rate for the entire 6 weeks of the intervention.
The study was authored by Allison E. Aiello of the University of Michigan along with colleagues from Michigan, the University of South Alabama, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"Our results indicate that interventions to reduce the transmission of ILI during a winter season may have substantial effects among individuals who share crowded living conditions," their report says.
