Q. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY?
A. The purpose of this study is to determine if persons who work with swine and/or poultry are more likely to be infected with influenza (the flu) caused by a zoonotic (animal) infection compared to persons who do not work around swine and/or poultry.
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Q. HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL PARTICIPATE?
Approximately 800 people will take part in this study.
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Q. HOW LONG WILL I BE IN THIS STUDY?
A. Your involvement will last for approximately two years.
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Q. WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THIS STUDY?
A. During the enrollment process, you were given a specimen collection kit. This kit will includes a saline mouth wash (a mild salt solution), tubes to collect the samples, a pre-addressed and stamped shipping package, labels, specimen collection instructions and an influenza-like illness questionnaire. If you develop flu-like symptoms, defined as an oral temperature of >100.5° Fahrenheit (or 38° Celsius) and a sore throat or cough for 4 or more hours, we ask you to open the specimen collection kit and follow it's instructions. In doing so, you will collect gargle and nasal swab specimens, complete a questionnaire, and ship the specimens and questionnaire in a pre-addresses and stamped box to the University of Iowa. You will be asked to ship the specimens and questionnaire to us, within 96 hours of onset of symptoms. You may submit one specimen collection kit every 30 days.
In approximately 12 months and 24 months, we will call you to set up another appointment. At these appointments you will again be asked to complete a questionnaire and to permit medical staff to obtain a small tube of blood (about 1 tablespoon).
Blood, gargle, and nasal swab specimens collected in this study will be examined for evidence that you have been infected with a virus that causes flu-like illness. Examples of such viruses include common human and animal viruses (influenza A/B, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza ).
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Q. WILL I BE NOTIFIED OF THE RESULTS OF MY SAMPLES?
A. These laboratory tests may be performed months after your illness, therefore, the lab results will not be provided to you or to your clinician. Cumulative results will be posted on the Zoo Flu website as they are compiled.
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Q. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THIS STUDY?
A.We hope that we may be able to identify individuals who are at greater risk of developing a zoonotic (animal) influenza.
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Q. WHO IS FUNDING THIS STUDY?
A. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding this research study. This means that the University of Iowa is receiving payments from NIH to support the activities that are required to conduct the study. No one on the research team will receive a direct payment or increase in salary from NIAID for conducting this study.
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Q. WHAT ABOUT CONFIDENTIALITY?
A. We will keep your participation in this research study confidential to the extent permitted by law. However, it is possible that other people may become aware of your participation in this study. For example, federal government regulatory agencies, the Agricultural Health Study staff, and the University of Iowa Institutional Review Board (a committee that reviews and approves research studies) may inspect and copy records pertaining to this research. Some of these records could contain information that personally identifies you.
If we write a report or article about this study or share the study data set with others, we will do so in such a way that you cannot be directly identified.
To help protect your confidentiality, we will use identification code numbers only on data forms and will be stored in locked filing cabinets and storage areas, using passwor d-protected computer files.
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