Effectiveness of Handwashing in Preventing SARS: A Review

Isaac Chun Hai Fung, Sandy Cairncross

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Scopus citations

Abstract

<div class="line" id="line-5"> This review examines the literature, including literature in Chinese, on the effectiveness of handwashing as an intervention against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) transmission. Nine of 10 epidemiological studies reviewed showed that handwashing was protective against SARS when comparing infected cases and non-infected controls in univariate analysis, but only in three studies was this result statistically signi&filig;cant in multivariate analysis. There is reason to believe that this is because most of the studies were too small. The evidence for the effectiveness of handwashing as a measure against SARS transmission in health care and community settings is suggestive, but not conclusive.</div>
Original languageAmerican English
JournalTropical Medicine and International Health
Volume11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2006

Keywords

  • communicable disease control
  • handwashing
  • hygiene
  • public health intervention
  • severe acute respiratory syndrome

DC Disciplines

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

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