masks, hand sanitizer help halt flu spread

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)-
Want to prepare for the flu pandemic?
You may want to hoard masks and hand sanitizers, according to a new study.
College students living in dormitories wear masks for several hours a day and often drink alcohol
Hand sanitizer based on hand sanitizer reduces the risk of influenza
Like a disease, up to halfAllison E.
Aiello of Ann Arbor\'s University of Michigan and her colleagues found out.
\"We do think this could be extended to other environments where people live nearby and eat in shared facilities \"--
For example, a military camp or nursing home, Aiello said in an interview with the Reuters Health Channel.
\"We can even bring it to the home environment. ” Non-
Aiello and her team point out that drug interventions like hand hygiene and masks can be important to fight any flu pandemic.
They pointed out that during the current influenza A (H1N1) epidemic, the vaccine arrived slowly and the use of antiviral drugs was \"limited \".
To investigate what measures might be most effective in preventing influenza transmission, the researchers divided 1,437 college students into three groups, depending on which dormitory they lived in: Masks and hands
Only hand sanitizer, mask or control group.
Arlo and her team are in six.
Once the university confirmed the first flu case on campus, a one-week study was conducted, but the study participants continued to be enrolled in the first two weeks.
During these two weeks, there was no difference in the incidence of influenza among the three groups. like illness;
According to Aiello, this is probably because the flu season is just beginning.
But in the last few weeks of the study, she and her colleagues found that students using masks and hand sanitizers were 35%-51% less likely to develop flu.
Students in the control group like to get sick.
And the mask-
Only groups are less likely to get flu.
The difference was not statistically significant compared to the control group.
Aiello noted that some studies investigating measures to prevent influenza transmission did not allow people to start using specific interventions
Like a mask.
Until someone is sick in their house.
They pointed out that because she and her colleagues started letting people use interventions at the beginning of the flu season, \"This fundamental research design difference may improve our ability to identify the effects of mask and hand hygiene use, in comparison to the study of the second transmission, family members may have been infected with masks.
\"Aiello and her colleagues are now looking at whether masks and hand sanitizers have an impact on laboratory-confirmed flu transmission, rather than less specific\" flu \"--like illness.
SOURCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases, February 15, 2010.