Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses: systematic review

The objective of this study was to review systematically the evidence of effectiveness of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. The data sources used were the Cochrane Library, Medline, OldMedline, Embase, and CINAHL, without restrictions on language or publication. Data selection: Studies of any intervention to prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses (isolation, quarantine, social distancing, barriers, personal protection, and hygiene). The study concludes that routine long-term implementation of some of the measures to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses might be difficult. However, many simple and low cost interventions reduce the transmission of epidemic respiratory viruses. More resources should be invested into studying which physical interventions are the most effective, flexible, and cost effective means of minimising the impact of acute respiratory tract infections. BMJ. 2009 Sep;339:b3675. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b3675.