MicrobeWorld

Wear the face mask? Don't wear the face mask? The question may seem moot now -- what with a decline in H1N1 cases and pharmacies now publicly trumpeting the availability of vaccine against the influenza strain -- but a few months back, it was anything but academic.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have been studying the 2006-07 flu season's effects on 1,437 students living in university residence halls. Some wore face masks (standard medical kind, nothing fancy); some wore masks and used a hand sanitizer; some just did whatever college kids normally would do in such situations. All watched an importance-of-hand-hygiene video.