SynthesisInfluenza and other respiratory viruses2012
The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence.
Synthesis in Influenza and other respiratory viruses, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 119 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Mask-Wearing on Respiratory Illness Transmission in Community Settings: A Rapid Review.Disaster medicine and public health preparedness · 2022Pooled it
- Preventive effects of tea and tea catechins against influenza and acute upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Anti-Influenza with Green Tea Catechins: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Pooled it
- What proportion of healthcare worker masks carry virus? A systematic review.Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA · 2020Pooled it
- A rapid systematic review of the efficacy of face masks and respirators against coronaviruses and other respiratory transmissible viruses for the community, healthcare workers and sick patients.International journal of nursing studies · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2017Pooled it
- 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 · 2016Pooled it
- epic3: national evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare-associated infections in NHS hospitals in England.The Journal of hospital infection · 2014Guideline
- Reusable respirators as personal protective equipment in clinical practice : User experience in times of a pandemic.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2022Trial
- Facemask against viral respiratory infections among Hajj pilgrims: A challenging cluster-randomized trial.PloS one · 2020Trial
- A cluster-randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of facemasks in preventing respiratory viral infection among Hajj pilgrims.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2015Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of mask mandates on subways to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the United States.PloS one · 2024Article
- AMMI Canada 2023 update on influenza: Management and emerging issues.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Mask Mandates in NY and Their Effect on the Incidence of Flu.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2023Article
- Narrative review on century of respiratory pandemics from Spanish flu to COVID-19 and impact of nanotechnology on COVID-19 diagnosis and immune system boosting.Virology journal · 2022Review
- Face masks to fight against COVID-19 pandemics: A comprehensive review of materials, design, technology and product development.Journal of industrial textiles · 2022Review
- Did Hospital Admissions Caused by Respiratory Infections and Asthma Decrease During the COVID-19 Pandemic?Medeniyet medical journal · 2022Article
- Effect of a multimodal strategy for prevention of nosocomial influenza: a retrospective study at Grenoble Alpes University Hospital from 2014 to 2019.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2022Article
- Economic burden of public health care and hospitalisation associated with COVID-19 in China.Public health · 2022Article
- Interventions on Socioeconomic and Racial Inequities in Respiratory Pandemics: a Rapid Systematic Review.Current epidemiology reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There are limited data on the use of masks and respirators to reduce transmission of influenza. A systematic review was undertaken to help inform pandemic influenza guidance in the United Kingdom. The initial review was performed in November 2009 and updated in June 2010 and January 2011. Inclusion criteria included randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental and observational studies of humans published in English with an outcome of laboratory-confirmed or clinically-diagnosed influenza and other viral respiratory infections. There were 17 eligible studies. Six of eight randomised controlled trials found no significant differences between control and intervention groups (masks with or without hand hygiene; N95/P2 respirators). One household trial found that mask wearing coupled with hand sanitiser use reduced secondary transmission of upper respiratory infection/influenza-like illness/laboratory-confirmed influenza compared with education; hand sanitiser alone resulted in no reduction. One hospital-based trial found a lower rate of clinical respiratory illness associated with non-fit-tested N95 respirator use compared with medical masks. Eight of nine retrospective observational studies found that mask and/or respirator use was independently associated with a reduced risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Findings, however, may not be applicable to influenza and many studies were suboptimal. None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection. Some evidence suggests that mask use is best undertaken as part of a package of personal protection especially hand hygiene. The effectiveness of masks and respirators is likely linked to early, consistent and correct usage.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.