Elsevier

Epidemics

Volume 20, September 2017, Pages 1-20
Epidemics

Review
Effectiveness of personal protective measures in reducing pandemic influenza transmission: A systematic review and meta-analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2017.04.003Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • We review the effectiveness of PPMs against pandemic influenza infection.

  • Hand hygiene provided a significant protective effect.

  • Facemask use provided a non-significant protective effect.

  • No data were found on the effectiveness of cough etiquette.

Abstract

The goal of this review was to examine the effectiveness of personal protective measures in preventing pandemic influenza transmission in human populations.

We collected primary studies from Medline, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and grey literature. Where appropriate, random effects meta-analyses were conducted using inverse variance statistical calculations.

Meta-analyses suggest that regular hand hygiene provided a significant protective effect (OR = 0.62; 95% CI 0.52–0.73; I2 = 0%), and facemask use provided a non-significant protective effect (OR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.16–1.71; I2 = 48%) against 2009 pandemic influenza infection. These interventions may therefore be effective at limiting transmission during future pandemics.

PROSPERO Registration: 42016039896.

Keywords

Pandemic influenza
Systematic review
Hand hygiene
Facemask
Cough etiquette

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