Handwashing against hospitalization for influenza: Time for PHIR?

摘要

In 2009 we would not have discounted hand-washing as an important tool for preventing influenza infection essentially because it was known to be effective against other diseases such as the common cold, respiratory infections, and gastroenteritis. The problem was that there was little hard evidence that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) message, "Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others", applied to H1N1 (CDC, 2012).