Byline: LAUREN SMITH
What would a college student do for $100? At the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 800 of them earned that much by wearing surgical masks for the seven-week duration of an influenza study.
"The World Health Organization is very concerned that the world is closer to an influenza pandemic," says Allison E. Aiello, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the university's School of Public Health. She helped put together a study, the first of its kind, to gauge the effectiveness of masks and hand sanitizers against the flu. "In the case of a pandemic," she says, "vaccines may not be available."
The study, paid for by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and run by Ms. Aiello and Arnold S. Monto, a professor of epidemiology at Michigan, involved 1,400 students in all, divided into three groups in separate dormitories -- the perfect laboratory for viruses. One group wore only the masks; another wore the masks and used hand sanitizer; the third was the control group, behaving as usual.
"It is very annoying to have the hotness of your breath trapped in an aqua-colored mask for hours a day," says Ben J.G. Ruano, a student in the mask-only group. "As for parties, if I were to wear the mask I might as well not go." So sometimes he left it at home.
The study began on January 29 and ended last week, the length of a normal flu season. The students who wore masks were paid $100. Those in the control group received $40. If they were especially lucky, they came down with the virus. Those who did, and who provided a throat culture, earned a $25 bonus.
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Gale Document Number:A160823487
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