Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21651736›Full record

Trial reportInfluenza and other respiratory viruses2011

Findings from a household randomized controlled trial of hand washing and face masks to reduce influenza transmission in Bangkok, Thailand.

James M Simmerman, Piyarat Suntarattiwong, Jens Levy, Richard G Jarman, Suchada Kaewchana, Robert V Gibbons, Ben J Cowling, Wiwan Sanasuttipun, Susan A Maloney, Timothy M Uyeki and 2 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Influenza and other respiratory viruses, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 96 papers, 24 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
96citing papers in PubMed, 24 pooled it
6.6field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

96 citing papers in PubMed, 24 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 178 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Facemask use in community settings to prevent respiratory infection transmission: A rapid review and meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021
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  19. Uptake and effectiveness of facemask against respiratory infections at mass gatherings: a systematic review.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2016
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36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

James M SimmermanInternational Emerging Infections Program, Thailand MOPH-US CDC Collaboration, Nonthaburi, Thailand. marksimmerman@hotmail.com
Piyarat Suntarattiwong
Jens Levy
Richard G Jarman
Suchada Kaewchana
Robert V Gibbons
Ben J Cowling
Wiwan Sanasuttipun
Susan A Maloney
Timothy M Uyeki
Laurie Kamimoto
Tawee Chotipitayasunondh
Ministry of Public Health · THArmed Forces Research Institute of Medical Science · THCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · USQueen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health · THUniversity of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEvidence is needed on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce influenza transmission. METHODOLOGY: We studied NPIs in households with a febrile, influenza-positive child. Households were randomized to control, hand washing (HW), or hand washing plus paper surgical face masks (HW + FM) arms. Study nurses conducted home visits within 24 hours of enrollment and on days 3, 7, and 21. Respiratory swabs and serum were collected from all household members and tested for influenza by RT-PCR or serology. PRINCIPAL

findingsBetween April 2008 and August 2009, 991 (16·5%) of 5995 pediatric influenza-like illness patients tested influenza positive. Four hundred and forty-two index children with 1147 household members were enrolled, and 221 (50·0%) were aged <6 years. Three hundred and ninety-seven (89·8%) households reported that the index patient slept in the parents' bedroom. The secondary attack rate was 21·5%, and 56/345 (16·3%; 95% CI 12·4-20·2%) secondary cases were asymptomatic. Hand-washing subjects reported 4·7 washing episodes/day, compared to 4·9 times/day in the HW + FM arm and 3·9 times/day in controls (P = 0·001). The odds ratios (ORs) for secondary influenza infection were not significantly different in the HW arm (OR = 1·20; 95% CI 0·76-1·88; P-0.442), or the HW + FM arm (OR = 1·16; 95% CI .0·74-1·82; P = 0.525).

conclusionsInfluenza transmission was not reduced by interventions to promote hand washing and face mask use. This may be attributable to transmission that occurred before the intervention, poor facemask compliance, little difference in hand-washing frequency between study groups, and shared sleeping arrangements. A prospective study design and a careful analysis of sociocultural factors could improve future NPI studies.

Indexed as

Family CharacteristicsAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAntibodies, ViralChildChild, PreschoolDisease Transmission, InfectiousEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFemaleHand DisinfectionHumansInfantInfant, NewbornInfluenza, HumanAntibodies, ViralRNA, Viral

Identifiers

PMID21651736
PMCPMC4634545
OpenAlexW1910874260

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.