14th ICID - Poster Abstracts - International Society for Infectious ...

When citing these abstracts please use the following reference:
Author(s) of abstract. Title of abstract [abstract]. Int J Infect Dis 2010;14S1: Abstract number.
Please note that the official publication of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases 2010, Volume 14, Supplement 1
is available electronically on http://www.sciencedirect.com
Final Abstract Number: 28.036
Session: Influenza
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 12:30-13:30
Room: Poster & Exhibition Area/Ground Level
Type: Poster Presentation
The effect of influenza-like illness symptoms and laboratory confirmed influenza A on hand
hygiene and other health habits among US University students
V. Perez, S. Galea, J. Kalbfleisch, A. S. Monto, A. E. Aiello
University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Background: Although hand hygiene and other non-pharmaceutical interventions have been
used for mitigating influenza, the effect of influenza illness on adherence with these measures is
unknown.
Methods: Data analyzed came from a cluster randomized intervention trial held at the University
during the 2007-2008 flu season. Immediate and sustained effects on hand hygiene and
reduction in social contacts from clinically verified ILI and seasonal influenza A were examined
using lagged regression to estimate beta () coefficients and 95% confidence intervals. Separate
analyses were conducted for comparing (1) clinically verified ILI cases, non-clinically verified ILI
cases, and healthy ILI-free controls (no reported ILI either clinically or on surveys); and (2)
influenza A cases, clinically verified or survey reported ILI cases not positive or tested for
influenza, and healthy ILI-free controls. Clinical ILI and influenza cases were further dichotomized
by ILI symptom severity (ss) based on their mean value.
Results: During the week of illness verification, clinically verified ILI cases reported washing
hands less than participants with non-clinically verified ILI and healthy controls (i.e. non-clinical ILI
cases) (=-1.04, p=0.03; high ss cases vs. low ss/non-clinical ILI cases: =-1.55, p=0.02; low ss
cases vs. high ss/non-clinical ILI cases: =-0.52, p=0.56). Clinical ILI cases also reported using
hand sanitizer more, spending less time handwashing, and spending fewer hours in their own
residence hall rooms during the week of illness verification (all p>0.05). Comparing influenza A
cases to ILI only cases and controls (i.e. non-flu cases) during the week of viral confirmation, flu
cases reported spending fewer hours in their own residence hall rooms (=-2.56, p=0.01; high ss
cases vs. low ss/non-flu cases: =-3.52, p=0.03; low ss cases vs. high ss/non-flu cases: =-1.60,
p=0.56). However, flu cases reportedly had better hand hygiene than non-flu cases (all p>0.05).
No sustained effects were observed.
Conclusion: Although adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions varied by clinical ILI and
seasonal influenza A occurrence, the temporal changes were not statistically significant.
Emphasis on the importance of complying with non-pharmaceutical recommendations such as
hand hygiene and voluntary reduction in social contacts is needed to potentially mitigate disease
spread among university students on campus.