A home toolkit for primary prevention of influenza by individuals and families

[tetano]

Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2011 Dec;5(4):266-71.
A home toolkit for primary prevention of influenza by individuals and families.
Finkelstein S, Prakash S, Nigmatulina K, McDevitt J, Larson R.
Source

Drs Finkelstein, Nigmatulina, and Larson and Ms Prakash are with the Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals, Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr McDevitt is with the Department of Environmental Health Exposure, Epidemiology and Risk Program, Harvard School of Public Health.
Abstract

An influenza pandemic can overwhelm the capacities of hospitals, clinics, nursing facilities, and emergency services. The likelihood is that most of the individuals who are stricken will be cared for at home, and there is strong evidence that in-home caregivers bear a disproportionate risk of becoming infected. We reviewed the scientific literature after 2000 to identify steps that in-home caregivers can take to reduce the chances that they and other household members will become infected in the home. Personal hygiene, common masks, and technologies including air filters and UV light each offer incremental benefits, and in combination are expected to reduce a portion of the risk that household members face when caring for a member who has become infected. In pandemics and even seasonal epidemics, seemingly small steps can literally mean the difference between life and death, especially for in-home caregivers.

PMID:
22146665
[PubMed - in process]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22146665

 

[Amish Country]

Re: A home toolkit for primary prevention of influenza by individuals and families

How about a direct link to the tool kit? I couldn't put it in my clipboard, download or access it.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: A home toolkit for primary prevention of influenza by individuals and families

It appears that this article must be purchased with a subscription, which is a travesty. I wonder if this effort was taxpayer funded?

Considering the content, this paper should be Open Access no matter who funded it.


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[Laidback Al]

Re: A home toolkit for primary prevention of influenza by individuals and families

How to stop the flu

Engineering-systems researchers identify proven strategies to prevent influenza from spreading through a household. . . .non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) would be critical to minimizing the spread of infection, say Richard Larson and Stan Finkelstein, members of MIT?s Engineering Systems Division (ESD), who want to get the word out about how to prevent the flu from spreading between family members and other groups of people who live or work in close quarters. . .
In their new paper, they reviewed 40 studies of the effectiveness of various non-pharmaceutical interventions and identified approaches that have been demonstrated to reduce the transmission of flu viruses. . .

To prevent transmission, the researchers recommend the following steps:

• Washing hands thoroughly after leaving a patient?s room. This means scrubbing with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for 20 to 30 seconds, or the amount of time it takes to sing ?Happy Birthday? twice.
• Wearing a mask. Though it?s inconclusive whether masks can block airborne viruses, ?one thing we learned from the literature that we looked at is that if the healthy person is wearing a mask and walks into a sickroom and touches infected surfaces, the mask makes it hard to touch his or her own nose and mouth,? says Finkelstein, who is also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
• Installing air filters. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can remove nearly 98 percent of virus particles. Portable air purifiers can also help, as well as pointing a window fan out the window of the sickroom.
• Controlling temperature and humidity. Higher temperatures and humidity levels can kill or disable viruses.
• Installing an ultraviolet light. UV light is antimicrobial, and portable air purifiers with both UV lamps and HEPA filters can be purchased for $180 to $370. . . .

The cost of these preventive measures varies from only a few dollars to $1,000, depending on how many are adopted. Some, such as careful hand washing and wearing facemasks, have negligible cost, while air filters and other technologies can cost a few hundred dollars. However, taking any of the steps is better than doing nothing at all, the researchers say.

The paper ?provides strong evidence that these simple hygiene and environmental prevention measures can reduce transmission of influenza within the home environment,? says Allison Aiello, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. ?All of these can be easily implemented in [the household or workplace], but they need to be disseminated along with education on how to use these measures effectively,? adds Aiello, who was not part of the research team. . . .

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/stop-the-flu-1207.html


There appears to be nothing in this article that has not been discussed and promoted by FluTrackers for years. see Preventing Human Infection & Personal Hygiene.