Effectiveness of Personal Protective Equipment and Oseltamivir Prophylaxis during Avian Infl uenza A (H7N7) Epidemic, the Netherlands, 2003

Abstract

We analyzed the effectiveness of personal protective equipment and oseltamivir use during the 2003 avian in- fluenza A (H7N7) epidemic in the Netherlands by linking databases containing information about farm visits, human infections, and use of oseltamivir and personal protective equipment. Using a stringent case de finition, based on self-reported conjunctivitis combined with a positive he- magglutination-inhibition assay, we found that prophylactic treatment with oseltamivir significantly reduced the risk for infection per farm visit from 0.145 (95% con fidence inter- val [CI] 0.078–0.233) to 0.031 (95% CI 0.008–0.073). The protective effect was ≈79% (95% CI 40%–97%). These results are comparable with the reported effect of prophy- lactic treatment with oseltamivir on human seasonal in flu- enza. No significant protective effect was found for use of respirators or safety glasses, possibly because of limita- tions of the data