Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza

Overview

An influenza pandemic is an unpredictable and recurring event that can have serious consequences for human health and socioeconomic well-being worldwide. Advanced preparedness planning is critical to mitigate the risk and impact of an influenza pandemic and save lives.

In the early stage of an influenza pandemic or epidemic, non-pharmaceutical public health measures may be the only set of countermeasures that are readily available in all countries. The potential impacts of the measures on an influenza pandemic or epidemic are to delay the introduction of the virus into a population; lower and delay the peak of a pandemic or epidemic course; and ultimately reduce the total number of infections and hence the total number of severe cases or deaths.

This document provides recommendations for the use of non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza. The recommendations are based on review of existing guidance documents and the latest scientific evidences that were gathered through a series of systematic literature reviews on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical public health measures. The findings of the systematic reviews are summarized in the Annex: report of systematic literature reviews.