Understanding Interventions
All actions taken to prevent the spread of an infectious disease or to treat it are called interventions. In an outbreak, public health officials can choose from two different kinds of interventions: Pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions (also called medical or non-medical interventions.) This page explains these options, including clarifying the difference between quarantine and isolation, and offers some story ideas.
Major interventions in a pandemic
The major pharmaceutical interventions in a pandemic are:
The major non-pharmaceutical interventions are
1
• |
Isolation and supportive treatment of all people suspected to have influenza, with the isolation occurring in the home or healthcare setting. |
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Voluntary home quarantine of members of households with confirmed or probable influenza case(s). |
• |
Social distancing of children, for example school closure and/or suspension of all school-based activities and childcare programs. |
• |
Social distancing of adults in the community and workplace, including canceling large public gatherings and altering work environments and schedules to decrease density. |
• |
Screening of travelers |
How do interventions work?
Antiviral drugs may treat the illness if given 48 hours after the onset of symptoms–but only if the new pandemic strain
responds to the drug.
Vaccines prevent infection with the new strain—but only if they arrive in time and before the pandemic has
already spread through the population.
All non-pharmaceutical interventions have the same goals. Ideally, they would:
• |
Delay a rapid increase in cases and buy time for implementation of pharmaceutical interventions. |
• |
Decrease the number of cases occurring at any one time to avoid overtaxing health resources. |
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Reduce the total number of influenza cases and thus overall morbidity and mortality. |
However, how well non-pharmaceutical interventions work is a tricky question and depends on the circumstances, public opinion about these interventions, and simple practicalities. For example, immediate school closings, an intervention thought to be an important choice for local health officials before the 2009 H1N1 pandemic struck, turned out to be less effective and more problematic than anticipated. (See
story ideas below.)
Why isolation and quarantine are not the same
Isolation and quarantine are technical terms that are not interchangeable.
The Centers for Disease Control defines
isolation as
“the separation of persons who have a specific infectious illness from those who are healthy and the restriction of their movement to stop the spread of that illness.” |
Quarantine refers to
“the separation and restriction of movement of persons who, while not yet ill, have been exposed to an infectious agent and therefore may become infectious.”2 |
Story Ideas
Sources
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Agency for International Development, Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions for Use During a Human Influenza Pandemic, December 2007. ↑
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fact Sheet on Isolation and Quarantine, May 2005. ↑