SynthesisInfluenza and other respiratory viruses2013
Hand hygiene to reduce community transmission of influenza and acute respiratory tract infection: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Influenza and other respiratory viruses, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 7 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
59 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of hand hygiene frequency on reducing acute respiratory infections in the community: a meta-analysis.Epidemiology and infection · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions to increase personal protective behaviours to limit the spread of respiratory viruses: A rapid evidence review and meta-analysis.British journal of health psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Rinse-free hand wash for reducing absenteeism among preschool and school children.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions in reducing illness absence among children in educational settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of disease in childhood · 2016Pooled it
- Hand hygiene and risk of influenza virus infections in the community: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Epidemiology and infection · 2014Pooled it
- Household determinants of observed handwashing among primary schoolchildren in Hebron, Palestine: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2026Trial
- Extending regular oral hygiene reduces the incidence of upper respiratory symptoms.Brazilian oral research · 2025Trial
- Effects of a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Mobile Health Program on Respiratory Illness in Bangladesh: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of the CHoBI7 Mobile Health Program.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Trial
- Socio-cultural factors for breastfeeding cessation and their relationship with child diarrhoea in the rural high-altitude Peruvian Andes - a qualitative study.International journal for equity in health · 2021Trial
- Hygiene Behaviors Associated with Influenza-Like Illness among Adults in Beijing, China: A Large, Population-Based Survey.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Outcomes of a pilot hand hygiene randomized cluster trial to reduce communicable infections among US office-based employees.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2015Trial
- Exploring the efficacy and safety of Antitoxin and Antipyretic Decoction in treating acute respiratory viral infections with Wind-Heat Obstruction of the Exterior and Heat Invading the Lung Defense a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2026Article
- Baseline Assessment of Handwashing Behavior, Hand Hygiene Conditions, and Wellbeing in Primary Schools in Nigeria.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Quantitative assessment of Public Health and Social Measures implementation and relaxation on influenza transmission during COVID-19 in China: SEIABR and GBDT models.Journal of global health · 2024Article
- Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID-related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review.Campbell systematic reviews · 2024Review
- Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID related face covering behaviours: A systematic review.Campbell systematic reviews · 2024Review
- S2k-Guideline hand antisepsis and hand hygiene.GMS hygiene and infection control · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Hand hygiene may be associated with modest protection against some acute respiratory tract infections, but its specific role in influenza transmission in different settings is unclear. We aimed to review evidence that improving hand hygiene reduces primary and secondary transmission of (i) influenza and (ii) acute respiratory tract infections in community settings. We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health and Cochrane databases up to 13 February 2012 for reports in any language of original research investigating the effect of hand hygiene on influenza or acute respiratory tract infection where aetiology was unspecified in community settings including institutions such as schools, and domestic residences. Data were presented and quality rated across outcomes according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. Sixteen articles met inclusion criteria. There was moderate to low-quality evidence of a reduction in both influenza and respiratory tract infection with hand hygiene interventions in schools, greatest in a lower-middle-income setting. There was high-quality evidence of a small reduction in respiratory infection in childcare settings. There was high-quality evidence for a large reduction in respiratory infection with a hand hygiene intervention in squatter settlements in a low-income setting. There was moderate- to high-quality evidence of no effect on secondary transmission of influenza in households that had already experienced an index case. While hand hygiene interventions have potential to reduce transmission of influenza and acute respiratory tract infections, their effectiveness varies depending on setting, context and compliance.
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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.