Within research, there is no lack of creative solutions for
studying complex problems. One recent example of that comes from a study
seeking to find out whether using face-shields would be effective protection
for clinical staff during flu season by keeping its participants “locked in”
for observation for a total of 14 days.
The study, which is yet to be published, is a part of four
trials that are due to be conducted on UK, Canada, Australia and the US. So far
only the UK version has been completed, where a total of 41 participants took
part. After being given various tests, half of the participants were
intentionally infected with a mild type of influenza. The remainder of the
participants were split into two groups. One group consisted of eleven
participants that were given face-shields, while the other group consisted of ten
participants that were not given any kind of protection. Following this, all
the participants were guided to a common room, where they had to spend 60 hours
together combined over the course of four days. Lastly, all participants got
put under observation until the end of the study.
Although the results are not out yet, the researchers are
hoping that their findings will show whether droplets or aerosols play a
crucial role in transmission of influenza. The implication is that if droplets
are key to the spread of influenza, then the use of face-shields in clinical settings
could help to minimise the spread of the virus. If this was to be confirmed,
then getting face-shields for hospital staff could be a realistic solution to a
common problem as face-shields are rather cost-effective.
While this study is intriguing and has clear
clinical implications, there are several factors worth considering. Perhaps the
most obvious one being that the researchers only used one type of virus, which
limits the generalizability of the findings. Similarly, it is worth asking to
what extent this environment reflects the real world. While the study is being
conducted in an isolated, clinical environment, the participants are too
healthy for it to mimic hospital conditions. On the other hand, it could be
argued that the healthy participants could be useful to explain how influenza
spreads without considering co-morbidities. Unfortunately, healthy individuals
rarely stay in clinical or controlled environments. Despite these weaknesses,
we are keen to see the combined outcome of all the studies once they are
published and will keep you updated once it happens.