Strategy Redux: Nothing New Since 1918?

An October 2006 workshop at NIH featured reports from medical historians about strategies employed during the 1918 pandemic. Upshot? Use the same strategies again.

2006-10-28 An NPR report reported on an NIH workshop featuring medical historians who had researched strategies that seemed to work during the 1918 pandemic. The report highlighted strategies employed then, including school closures, home quarantines and cancellation of public events.

Survey results also reported at the NIH session indicated that 9 of 10 Americans claim they would comply with a quarantine, but this leaves serious doubt as to whether this is feasible in a highly interdependent, networked society. Because the illness can run a relatively long course, and because some smaller employers may close entirely for extended periods, there is a question as to how long people can go without a paycheck. With many families having two working parents -- more than in 1918 -- school closures will have widespread effects.

Nonetheless, it's clear that a simulation must cover these three basic public health strategies of school and public event closures, and home quarantines. Detailed models of these strategies appear to be lightly covered in the simulation literature.


News
2009-09-10 U.S. Colleges Report Rise in 'Flu-like' Illness
U.S. colleges in the Midwest and Southeast are already reporting flu-like illnesses, though the school year has scarcely begun. Most have not tested for H1N1, but most reported cases are likely to be attributable to the 2009 "swine flu."
2009-06-12 Search PubMed Pandemic Flu Research Listings
The NIH maintains a list of related research publications relevant to public health planning for pandemic influenza.
2009-06-12 It's Official: Pandemic Phase 6 Reached
The UN's World Health Organization announced on 11 June 2009 that it had raised the H1N1 outbreak to pandemic phase 6.
2009-04-29 WHO Raises Alert Level to V
The WHO raised its pandemic flu alert to Phase V on April 29, 2009.
2009-04-27 Guardian Reviews UK's 2007 Pandemic Flu Plan
As part of its swine flu coverage, highlighted by the revelation on the same day that two UK citizens were confirmed to have contracted the disease, the Guardian reviewed the British government's pandemic flu contingency plan.
More news…
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