Assessment of Effectiveness of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions in a School Outbreak of Influenza A, Lamphun Province, November 2007
Keywords:
influenza A, school closure, social distancing, non-pharmaceutical intervention, effectivenessAbstract
In mid-November 2007, an influenza outbreak was detected in a primary school in Lamphun Province. A study was conducted to describe epidemiological characteristics, to evaluate effectiveness of school closure and non-pharmaceutical interventions, and to assess response capacity of local public health agencies. An active case finding was conducted by reviewing influenza case reports and hospital records. A suspect influenza case was defined as a student/staff in School M who developed fever with at least one of the following symptoms: sore throat, cough, sputum, running nose, headache, myalgia, arthralgia or vomiting during November 1-30, 2007. A confirmed case was identified by at least one positive laboratory result for influenza virus. A basic reproduction number (R0) was estimated and a survey was carried-out to determine a secondary attack rate in households. Effectiveness of public health interventions was assessed resulting in on. Of 248 students and staff members, 109 met a suspect case definition. Overall attack rate of 45.6 percent. Median age of the cases was 10 years. Class-specific attack rate, where the first case occurred, was the highest at 68.8 percent. The secondary attack rate was 12.0 percent. Estimated R0 was 3.4. Non-pharmaceutical public health interventions including 7-day school closure, case isolation at home or in a field hospital, mask use, active surveillance, and community participation in control activities resulted in limited spreading of the influenza A outbreak. Enhanced influenza surveillance in a school setting and mobilization of health resources to further support local rapid response teams are necessary for pandemic influenza preparedness.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Health Science

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.