Hand washing helped a bit

Hand washing helped a bit

Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness,

Harms associated with physical interventions were under‐investigated

There is a need for large, well‐designed RCTs addressing the effectiveness of many of these interventions in multiple settings and populations,

as well as the impact of adherence on effectiveness,

especially in those most at risk of ARIs.
Physical measures, prevent respiratory viruses spreading between people

https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses

Washing hands often

RCTs on hand washing
= 19

N = 71,210

Wearing masks, eye protection, gloves, and protective gowns

RCTs on masks = 78

No RCTs on gowns and gloves

Wiping surfaces with disinfectant

6 trials

Avoiding contact with other people (isolation or quarantine)

3 RCTs

Not touching your eyes, nose, or mouth

No RCTs

Sneezing or coughing into your elbow

No RCTs

Keeping a certain distance away from other people (distancing)

Examining people entering a country for signs of infection (screening)

No RCTs on examining people on entry

Hand hygiene interventions versus controls (i.e. no intervention)

Pooling for the broad outcome of ARI

14% relative reduction in the number of people with ARIs in the hand hygiene group

RR 0.86, (0.81 to 0.90)

9 trials, n = 52,105

moderate‐certainty evidence,

suggesting a probable benefit.

In absolute terms

A reduction from 380 events per 1000 people,

to 327 per 1000 people.

Using more strictly defined outcomes of ILI

Estimates of effect for ILI

RR 0.94

11 trials, n = 34,503

low‐certainty evidence

Beneficial effect was not statistically significant if ILI,

and laboratory-confirmed ILI were analysed separately

Laboratory‐confirmed influenza

RR 0.91

8 trials, n = 8,332

low‐certainty evidence,

suggest the intervention made little or no difference.

Composite (pooled) outcome ARI or ILI or influenza

Hand hygiene may be beneficial with an 11% relative reduction of respiratory illness

RR 0.89

low‐certainty evidence

In absolute terms

This benefit would result in a reduction from 200 events per 1000 people,

to 178 per 1000 people

Few trials measured and reported harms

very low‐certainty evidence.

Surface/object disinfection compared to control

Numbers of cases of viral respiratory illness (ARIs, ILI, confirmed influenza)

Six trials

A significant reduction in ARI in the intervention group

OR 0.47 (53% benefit)

47 Comments

  1. pianomusic on March 5, 2023 at 6:21 am

    Except people were using sanitizer which turned out to cause liver damage esp in kids.

  2. Hoobs groove on March 5, 2023 at 6:21 am

    Need to change colour of the lettering on those posters you can’t see it.,.. change it to green grass green better easier to read. Did you watch that documentary on the cancer treatment scandal make sure you do!!

  3. Hot Dog Not Hot Dog on March 5, 2023 at 6:22 am

    Hand washing is just one small layer of protection that is a good idea….like a proper MASK, and distancing, and decent sleep, stress control, and reasonably good diet…during the heights of the pandemic.

  4. Shadow Man on March 5, 2023 at 6:28 am

    *Washing Hands, Taking IVM or HCQ and Zinc worked, but there was no money for Big Pharma in it. Also they wouldn’t have been able to keep the fear and control campaign going, with the end game the clot shot they wanted the public to have.*

  5. piexotto on March 5, 2023 at 6:28 am

    vojska ima skolske avione. oni spremaju pilote za borbene avione. borbeni avioni neka imaju ceste vezbe nad londonom.

  6. steveplc2003 on March 5, 2023 at 6:28 am

    The medical industry doesn’t seem to consider the environmental damage. Anti bac plastic bottles appeared every where full of toxic gel.
    Then the gallons of wasted water and most soaps again full of chemicals .

  7. Mabel Heinzle on March 5, 2023 at 6:29 am

    Thank you Dr Campbell

  8. A White on March 5, 2023 at 6:29 am

    We need to sue WHO United Nations and the e.u

  9. F. E Brown on March 5, 2023 at 6:30 am

    John. In the very very beginning of the "virus" we were all told, hand washing , soap, and sunlight kills CONVID-19. why were we told to stay indoors?? Hmmmmm.

  10. M E on March 5, 2023 at 6:30 am

    I disagree …..Dr Campbell the UK study isn’t the last word..,wait for more studies ..My experience tells me studies aren’t too accurate in the past years….Conflict of interest sometimes rules studies results. I do believe masks can be effective as part of a protocol …If masks weren’t effective why then they are being used in hospitals for decades…Mask and hygiene combination is the answer and masks are a great tool for prevention….To say they don’t work on one study will send people to avoid using preventions and the situation could fire up….

  11. American Moon (O d y s e e . c o m) on March 5, 2023 at 6:31 am

    Quoting ONE set of studies of mask use. I’m a scientist. That is a RIDICULOUS small sample. AND they were testing Hospital people not we in crowds! And it showed 10-15% with SMALL SAMPLE. Hand washing 15% so together, near 1/3rd reduction. You are being like a pseudo-scientific chimpanzee. Or Torrie. One recent DNA study said the Basque are no different from other European populations. Another said they are very different. Another One study said the French and Spanish Basque were different from one another but equal with other European populations. Which is it? One study each! Opposite conclusions. Only a FOOL hears ONE limited study and throws out all he knows from years. THREE YEARS, we heard studies that said to only get mRNA vaccines and use nothing other than Tylenol besides them. Were those studies heralded as from God’s mouth? I don’t think so!

  12. James Rindley on March 5, 2023 at 6:31 am

    The thing we’re missing is a trial about the negative health consequences of masking. Since we know that exercise or the lack of it has massive effects on overall health, we can expect that anything which makes exercise unpleasant by restricting breathing will have really significant health influence. It might even explain the excess deathss.

  13. Benjamin Griswold on March 5, 2023 at 6:31 am

    Always open the public bathroom doors with your foot. Erbody know dat

  14. Eartha McDermott on March 5, 2023 at 6:33 am

    Added bonus of handwasing is that it reduces food poisoning events

  15. MusicByJC on March 5, 2023 at 6:35 am

    Are masks and handwashing effective against koodies? Until proven otherwise, I am not taking any chances.

  16. The Selector on March 5, 2023 at 6:37 am

    Ha! The bio-warfare people in the ARMY would be using paper masks if they worked.

  17. Fanta Sip on March 5, 2023 at 6:39 am

    I was wearing mask from February 2020 to stop the spread of the virus, keeping distance + staying at home asap, hand hygiene + wiping surfaces and purchased goods, all together until a half a year back. No covid this far or flu or cold. No flu since 2019, normally I suffer a bad flu every second year but nothing during the pandemic. Been twice to Sweden in January and February 2023 not wearing mask but put on for a week, when back home, not to spread the virus in our little, small town. Hand hygiene is something I always do anyways, not only because of the pandemic. Two Moderna jabs in summer 2021. Haven’t been ill for 3, 5 year, normally flu every second year. Hm, interesting I think🤔 Why is this?

  18. Eve Calvert on March 5, 2023 at 6:40 am

    My huge pet hate is people handling food without protection.

  19. PC No on March 5, 2023 at 6:41 am

    It would be interesting to know how hand washing compares with the use of hand sanitizer, and what kinds of hand sanitizers are effective. As for public surfaces, like shopping cart handles and keypads, simply putting a dispenser of effective hand sanitizer near the most frequently used surfaces would go a long way toward protecting everyone, since some of the sanitizer would end up on the surfaces as they were touched, potentially protecting even those who would not use the sanitizer themselves.

  20. American Moon (O d y s e e . c o m) on March 5, 2023 at 6:42 am

    Surfaces were long proved to have near no effect. You are CLEARLY getting your information from small studies. Coffee good. Coffee bad. And you are wasting time believing one not all studies.

  21. Graham Thacker on March 5, 2023 at 6:42 am

    Meanwhile young athletic people are dying suddenly and unexpectedly all over the World and people are still burying their heads in the sand, you should all be ashamed of yourselves.

  22. William Henry on March 5, 2023 at 6:43 am

    Data make sense when you realize GERMS DO NOT CAUSE DISEASE.

  23. Matthew Spencer on March 5, 2023 at 6:45 am

    Cleaning _handles_ is always a good idea: the Salisbury Novichok attack was carried out by putting the poison on the door-handle. This seems to be the GRU’s preferred method, so there must have been some kind of trial or experiment to determine the best way of murdering someone with a contact-poison, though I doubt that Dr Campbell would think it an ethical trial if he knew about it!
    I would like to see a trial about the efficacy of hand-washing for ALL infections, gastric and epidermal as well as respiratory. Bacterial as well as viral. When it comes to noroviruses (which can sweep through hospitals) hand washing and surface cleaning are about the only measures which do anything at all. When it comes to salmonella and listeria, hand-washing is all important.

  24. piexotto on March 5, 2023 at 6:46 am

    prasenje komaraca iz aviona, avio miting sa narodom, decom…

  25. Jean-Luc Vasseur on March 5, 2023 at 6:46 am

    Thx for all

  26. chris westwood on March 5, 2023 at 6:48 am

    Washing helped a little bit, so did masks, separation distance, inoculation…..common sense. The totality of these helped a lot even though each one in isolation only shows a little bit. They are called layers of protection by people who understand risk and work in risk management.

  27. Liberty4Ever on March 5, 2023 at 6:49 am

    I trust the Cochrane review. They adhere to actual science, as opposed to The Science(TM). I initially suspected hand washing might help in COVID as it generally does in other diseases, but then we were told that COVID is spread almost entirely via airborne respiratory droplets and not via fomites. We have been subjected to a considerable amount of authoritarian misinformation.

  28. James Richard on March 5, 2023 at 6:49 am

    They said everyone will get it. Thus nothing helps.

  29. seagull & shoester on March 5, 2023 at 6:50 am

    Did any of that UV lamp stuff work?

  30. Art Generica on March 5, 2023 at 6:54 am

    The Matt Hancock messages discussing how they plan to release the new variant to scare the people back into compliance is really just full blown admission.

  31. Renee D on March 5, 2023 at 6:55 am

    Remember, it all started with 14 days to flatten the curve.

  32. Catherine Britton on March 5, 2023 at 6:59 am

    From experience during this pandemic when I wore a mask it reminded me there was a situation, reinforced by seeing others wearing masks also reminded me we have a situation. But most importantly the mask reminded me not to touch my nose or mouth so for that reason I believe masks have their place. In my view masks were politicised and that will be their lasting legacy.

  33. ML Clarky on March 5, 2023 at 7:00 am

    This is an odd one, but relevant I think. Nail biting, lots of people do it as an anxiety tick. Basic hygiene guidance should of highlighted this, especially in the stressful environment of lockdowns. I have had some of the worst chest infections from inadvertently biting my nails and guidance to stop may of helped prevent a lot of people from getting ill in general.

  34. brian on March 5, 2023 at 7:00 am

    What is going on with you John.
    Ask anyone in an operating room if masks and hand washing are important to everyone in that room to maintain a more stérile situation.

  35. Lenny Kusa on March 5, 2023 at 7:04 am

    1.5 rule works very well if your reading nnemf.

  36. Graham Thacker on March 5, 2023 at 7:05 am

    Never stayed at home, didn’t social distance, didn’t sanitize, didn’t wear a mask, allowed people into my home, and I certainly never took the medicine, and now that the truth is coming out it seems I have been completely vindicated in trusting to my intuition and common sense.

  37. Helen Reich on March 5, 2023 at 7:07 am

    Here’s another NPI I’ve been hearing about, and I bet it beats hand washing and surface cleaning: get some damn sun. Yes, near infrared radiation has been shown to be pretty important vs many viruses, and it has to do with reducing oxidative stress. So, now I try to get outside during the day, even in colder weather, and it’s not necessary to be in full sun at all. The infrared light penetrates your clothing and your skull. Of course , there’s haven’t yet been any RCTs to help guide us as to how much and how often is enough. Let’s hope we find out, someday. Spending time in natural areas is best, because infrared is reflected best by the color green, and also one can then take advantage of phytoncides emitted by plants, which help increase our natural killer cells.

  38. wpgspecb on March 5, 2023 at 7:07 am

    Ignaz Semmelweis is turning in his grave, Dr. John, you are a disgrace!!!!!!!

  39. Janet Straw on March 5, 2023 at 7:08 am

    I would like to see a study done on the effectiveness of all those annoying plexiglass panels! BiG money maker for the companies providing them. 🙋‍♀️🇺🇸

  40. Koch Froneman on March 5, 2023 at 7:10 am

    I wash my hands before meals, are jab free and healthy as can be.

  41. Sachin Menon on March 5, 2023 at 7:12 am

    That’s why most Indians don’t prefer hand shakes. Instead we do Namaste.

  42. MR NOBODY on March 5, 2023 at 7:15 am

    What about the Vac2 ? Is it workin or dangerous ?

  43. Lina Musca on March 5, 2023 at 7:15 am

    Dr John please see ‘histologic viral and molecular correlates of heart disease in fatal covid -19.’ This from "Annals of diagnostic pathology". Journal. My question is whether nucleocapsid absence is actually reliable way of distinguishing covid infection from vaccine cause of death. The above findings seem to make this problematical.

  44. American Moon (O d y s e e . c o m) on March 5, 2023 at 7:16 am

    I wear underwear. For hygiene. You speak of hand-hygiene. A mask is hygiene for spital and coughs and sneezes. You are NOT thinking with discipline. As scientist. You ignore 5, 10, 15% results. When 3 x 15% is MUCH! And only 3% or below is background noise. And the Z values are low on all those numbers. Plus or minus on all these tiny studies are MASSIVE! You are being a CHILD, Doctor.

  45. Kevin Madden on March 5, 2023 at 7:16 am

    Get the virus get your immunity, if you are young or healthy!

  46. A White on March 5, 2023 at 7:17 am

    All you trained doctors scientist that was lied to should sue them all with us

  47. Funny Farm on March 5, 2023 at 7:18 am

    Somebody’s making a lot of money on all the masks, that didn’t work 😮

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