The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Dec 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialCan a school-based hand hygiene program reduce asthma exacerbations among elementary school children?
Viral upper respiratory tract infections have been implicated as a major cause of asthma exacerbations among school-aged children. Regular hand washing is the most effective method to prevent the spread of viral respiratory tract infections, but effective hand-washing practices are difficult to establish in schools. ⋯ Although the intervention was not found to be effective, the results were confounded by the H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in substantially increased hand hygiene behaviors and resources in usual-care schools. Therefore these results should be viewed cautiously.