tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Oct 19. [Epub ahead of print]
Effectiveness of a school district closure for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) on acute respiratory illnesses in the community: a natural experiment.
Copeland DL, Basurto-Davila R, Chung W, Kurian A, Fishbein DB, Szymanowski P, Zipprich J, Lipman H, Cetron MS, Meltzer MI, Averhoff F.
Source
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Abstract
Background. Following detection of pandemic influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, a school district (intervention community, [IC]) closed all public schools for eight days to reduce transmission. Nearby school districts (control community [CC]) mostly remained open.Methods. We collected household data to measure self-reported acute respiratory illness (ARI), before, during, and after school closures. We also collected influenza-related visits to emergency departments (ED(flu)).Results. In both communities, self-reported ARIs and ED(flu) visits increased from before to during the school closure, but the increase in ARI rates was 45% lower in the IC,0.6% before to 1.2% during, than in the CC, 0.4% before to 1.5% during (RR(During/Before)=0.55, p=0.001; aOR(During/Before)=0.49, p<.03). For households with school age children only (no children 0-5 years), IC had even lower increases in adjusted ARI than in the CC (aOR(During/Before)=0.28, p<.001). The relative increase of total ED(flu) visits in the IC was 27% lower (2.8% before to 4.4% during) compared to the CC (2.9% before to 6.2% during). Among children 6-18 years old, the percentage of ED(flu) in IC remained constant (5.1% before vs. 5.2% during), while in the CC it more than doubled (5.2% before vs. 10.9% during). After schools re-opened, ARI rates and ED(flu) visits decreased in both communities.Conclusions. Our study documents a reduction in ARI and ED(flu) visits in the intervention community. Our findings can be used to assess the potential benefit of school closures during pandemics.
PMID:
23087391
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23087391
Effectiveness of a school district closure for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) on acute respiratory illnesses in the community: a natural experiment.
Copeland DL, Basurto-Davila R, Chung W, Kurian A, Fishbein DB, Szymanowski P, Zipprich J, Lipman H, Cetron MS, Meltzer MI, Averhoff F.
Source
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Abstract
Background. Following detection of pandemic influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, a school district (intervention community, [IC]) closed all public schools for eight days to reduce transmission. Nearby school districts (control community [CC]) mostly remained open.Methods. We collected household data to measure self-reported acute respiratory illness (ARI), before, during, and after school closures. We also collected influenza-related visits to emergency departments (ED(flu)).Results. In both communities, self-reported ARIs and ED(flu) visits increased from before to during the school closure, but the increase in ARI rates was 45% lower in the IC,0.6% before to 1.2% during, than in the CC, 0.4% before to 1.5% during (RR(During/Before)=0.55, p=0.001; aOR(During/Before)=0.49, p<.03). For households with school age children only (no children 0-5 years), IC had even lower increases in adjusted ARI than in the CC (aOR(During/Before)=0.28, p<.001). The relative increase of total ED(flu) visits in the IC was 27% lower (2.8% before to 4.4% during) compared to the CC (2.9% before to 6.2% during). Among children 6-18 years old, the percentage of ED(flu) in IC remained constant (5.1% before vs. 5.2% during), while in the CC it more than doubled (5.2% before vs. 10.9% during). After schools re-opened, ARI rates and ED(flu) visits decreased in both communities.Conclusions. Our study documents a reduction in ARI and ED(flu) visits in the intervention community. Our findings can be used to assess the potential benefit of school closures during pandemics.
PMID:
23087391
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23087391