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Volume 15, Number 2—February 2009
CME ACTIVITY - Research

Face Mask Use and Control of Respiratory Virus Transmission in Households

C. Raina MacIntyreComments to Author , Simon Cauchemez, Dominic E. Dwyer, Holly Seale, Pamela Cheung, Gary Browne, Michael Fasher, James Wood, Zhanhai Gao, Robert Booy, and Neil Ferguson
Author affiliations: University of New South Wales School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (C.R. MacIntyre, H. Seale, J. Wood, Z. Gao); Children's Hospital at Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney (C.R. MacIntyre, P. Cheung, R. Booy, G. Browne); Imperial College London, London, UK (S. Cauchemez, N. Ferguson); Westmead Hospital, Sydney (D.E. Dwyer); The Wentworth Division of General Practice, Sydney (M. Fasher)

Main Article

Table 2

Characteristics of adherent versus nonadherent mask wearers in the study, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2006 and 2007 winter influenza seasons *

Variable Fully adherent mask users, no. (%), 
n = 30 Nonadherent mask users, no. (%), 
n = 156 p value
Living arrangement
Reside in house 22 (73) 108 (69) 0.66
>4 persons in house 11 (37) 64 (41) 0.66
>3 adults in house
 3 (10)
 43 (28)
 0.04
Demographics
Caucasian race† 10 (33) 29 (19) 0.07
Working adult 22 (73) 118 (76)
Smoker in house
Daily handwashing 14 (45) 54 (34) 0.21
Use of soap when handwashing
 13 (43)
 65 (42)
 0.87
Index child fully immunized 15 (50) 69 (44) 0.56
Index child attends childcare
 6 (20)
 51 (33)
 0.17
Influenza vaccination
Index child 0 1 (0.5) 0.66
Adult 1 0 2 (1) 0.53
Adult 2
 0
 2 (1%)
 0.53
Median days of child sickness 5 5
Siblings reporting illness 0 1 (0.5) 0.66

*Adherence to mask use and handwashing measured by daily self-reports and exit interviews.
†Information relates to the participating adult interviewed.

Main Article

Page created: September 24, 2012
Page updated: September 24, 2012
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