More effort needs to be put into stopping and preventing the spread of viruses. Mutations have clearly shown us vaccines are not the only answer.   It is not possible to disinfect often enough to keep up with human shedding.  Because human shedding is persistent by nature, we need to address hygiene with persistent cleaning technologies.  A three-pronged attack provides the best results. Thus, we need to clean air, surfaces and hands. When you touch a doorknob, germ transfers from your hand to the door knob and the door knob to your hand.  Clean hands and clean touch points go a long way in limiting the spread of disease while keeping us healthy. Cleaning the air helps remove the germs before they settle on hands or surfaces.

Schools and nursing homes have the largest groups of people in our society with developing and compromised immune systems which allows disease to spread rapidly within the walls of the facilities.  Both of these types of institutions further impact the wellness of the communities they are in.  This week we will provide studies on the spread of infection in schools and nursing homes. 

Knowledge, Practice of Personal Hygiene, School Sanitation, and Risk Factors of Contracting Diarrhea among Rural Students from Five Western Provinces in China  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8468795/

The Impact of a School-Based Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program on Absenteeism, Diarrhea, and Respiratory Infection: A Matched–Control Trial in Mali  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4889767/

The Hi Five study: design of a school-based randomized trial to reduce infections and improve hygiene and well-being among 6–15 year olds in Denmark

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1556-1

School-based interventions to promote personal and environmental hygiene practices among children in Pakistan: protocol for a mixed methods study  https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-08511-0

Effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions in reducing illness absence among children in educational settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis  https://adc.bmj.com/content/101/1/42

Knowledge about Hand Hygiene and Related Infectious Disease Awareness among Primary School Children in Germany      

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/2/190

Cleaning Up: Battling Germs in School Facilities

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ918585.pdf

Effects of classroom cleaning on student health: a longitudinal study    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-022-00427-8

Effect of Hand Hygiene on Infectious Disease Risk in the Community Setting: A Meta-Analysis   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2446461/

Occurrence of Bacteria and Viruses on Elementary Classroom Surfaces and the Potential Role of Classroom Hygiene in the Spread of Infectious Diseases 

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38080500_Occurrence_of_Bacteria_and_Viruses_on_Elementary_Classroom_Surfaces_and_the_Potential_Role_of_Classroom_Hygiene_in_the_Spread_of_Infectious_Diseases

Containing the Spread of Infectious Disease on College Campuses

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.31.20166348v2.full

Are college campuses superspreaders? A data-driven modeling study   https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10255842.2020.1869221

Controlling the Spread of Disease in Schools   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248433/

Simulating respiratory disease transmission within and between classrooms to assess pandemic management strategies at schools      https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2203019119

The role played by contaminated surfaces in the transmission of nosocomial pathogens                                                             https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21666400/

Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in air and on surfaces and estimating infection risk in buildings and buses on a university campus

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-022-00442-9

The burden of respiratory infections among older adults in long-term care: a systematic review

https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-019-1236-6

Viral respiratory infections in a nursing home: a six-month prospective study

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5097393/

Preparedness for viral respiratory infection pandemic in residential aged care facilities: A review of the literature to inform post‐COVID‐19 response

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8242770/

Infectious Disease Outbreaks in Nursing Homes: An Unappreciated Hazard for Frail Elderly Persons 

https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/36/7/870/318878

When even two is a crowd:  shared nursing home rooms and the risk of respiratory infection

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(23)00025-9/fulltext

Nursing home staff networks and COVID-19

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2015455118

Infection Control Deficiencies Were Widespread and Persistent in Nursing Homes Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-576r

Influenza-like illness in residential care homes: a study of the incidence, aetiological agents, natural history and health resource utilization

https://thorax.bmj.com/content/63/8/690

Control of Respiratory Infection Outbreaks in Long-Term Care Homes, 2018

https://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/oph_standards/docs/reference/resp_infectn_ctrl_guide_ltc_2018_en.pdf

Epidemiology and clinical features of COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537021000511

Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance in Nursing Homes: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (HANDSOME Study)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7229527/

Hand hygiene compliance and its drivers in long-term care facilities; observations and a survey

https://aricjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13756-022-01088-w

Increased hand hygiene compliance in nursing homes after a multimodal intervention: A cluster randomized controlled trial (HANDSOME)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/increased-hand-hygiene-compliance-in-nursing-homes-after-a-multimodal-intervention-a-cluster-randomized-controlled-trial-handsome/3A7B1812C8A1D2E9F167B3E0EBFEDF80