SynthesisJournal of public health (Oxford, England)2024
The effectiveness of interventions to reduce the transmission of acute respiratory infections in care homes: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of public health (Oxford, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Managing acute respiratory infection outbreaks in care homes: A cross-sectional study of public health response across South East England.Journal of infection prevention · 2026Article
- Disease burden of viral respiratory infections in people with intellectual disabilities: a scoping review.BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Article
- [Recommendations on prevention and treatment of respiratory infections in institutionalised older people].Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2025Review
- Adapting the Germ Defence Web-Based Intervention to Improve Infection Prevention and Control in Care Homes: Interview Study Among Care Home Staff.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Mass testing for discovery and control of COVID-19 outbreaks in adult social care: an observational study and cost-effectiveness analysis of 14 805 care homes in England.BMJ public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCare home residents are at high risk from outbreaks of respiratory infections, such as influenza and COVID-19. We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, to determine which interventions (apart from vaccines) are effective at reducing transmission of acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) in care homes.
methodsWe searched CINAHL, Medline, Embase and Cochrane for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions to prevent transmission of ARIs in care homes (excluding vaccines), to April 2023.
resultsA total of 21 articles met inclusion criteria. Two infection control interventions significantly reduced respiratory infections. Oseltamivir significantly reduced risk of symptomatic laboratory-confirmed influenza (OR 0.39, 95%CI 0.16-0.94, three trials), and influenza-like illness (OR 0.50, 95%CI 0.36-0.69), even in a vaccinated population. High dose vitamin D supplementation reduced incidence of ARIs (incidence rate ratio 0.60; 95%CI 0.38-0.94, one trial). Nine other RCTs of vitamin, mineral, probiotic and herbal supplements showed no significant effect.
conclusionTransmission of respiratory infections in care homes can be reduced by educational interventions to improve infection control procedures and compliance by staff, by antiviral prophylaxis soon after a case of influenza has been detected, and by supplementation with high-dose Vitamin D3. Further research is needed to confirm the effect of high-dose Vitamin D3.
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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.