BMJ  2008;336:55-56 (12 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39406.511817.BE (published 27 November 2007)

Editorials

Using physical barriers to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses

Handwashing and wearing masks, gloves, and gowns are highly effective

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Preparing health professionals and the public for a flu pandemic has been the subject of much research worldwide, and governments and public health departments have published various recommendations over the past five years.¹²³⁴ One aspect of the clinical management of respiratory viruses—namely barrier methods to reduce transmission—is assessed in the accompanying systematic review by Jefferson and colleagues.⁵ This review found that handwashing and wearing masks, gloves, and gowns were effective individually in preventing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, and even more effective when combined (odds ratio 0.09, 95% confidence interval 0.02 to 0.35, number needed to treat (NNT)=3, 2.66 to 4.97). The incremental effect of adding virucidals or antiseptics to normal handwashing to reduce respiratory disease was uncertain.

Because pandemic flu is such a potentially catastrophic event, governments worldwide should have commissioned such a review many years ago and not have left it to the academic community to . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal H2W 1S4

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