Can antiviral tissues prevent the spread of colds?(names & claims)

"Kills 99.9 percent of cold and flu viruses," claims the packaging on the new Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues. The manufacturer says the three-ply tissues help prevent the spread of colds and flu with a "moisture-activated" middle layer containing antiviral agents.

In the 1980s several published studies funded by the manufacturer, involving a similar tissue that was never marketed nationally, found modest reductions in the spread of colds and other respiratory infections: about 10 percent fewer infections in the best-controlled study, 20 to 30 percent fewer in the rest. Other studies indicated that the product significantly reduced the number of live germs that pass through tissues onto hands or into the air. Comparable studies have not been done with the current product, which has essentially the same virus-killing ingredients.

Kleenex Anti-Viral may be worth trying if your household members catch a lot of colds or you work with sick people or in close quarters with others. The antiviral tissues cost roughly the same as other premium Kleenex tissues, such as its Ultra Soft or Lotion lines: $2 per box of 120, or about twice as much as regular tissues.

But the tissues are no substitute for more proven ...