Non-pharmaceutical public health interventions for pandemic influenza: an evaluation of the evidence base.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In an influenza pandemic, the benefit of vaccines and antiviral medications will be constrained by limitations on supplies and effectiveness. Non-pharmaceutical public health interventions will therefore be vital in curtailing disease spread. However, the most comprehensive assessments of the literature to date recognize the generally poor quality of evidence on which to base non-pharmaceutical pandemic planning decisions. In light of the need to prepare for a possible pandemic despite concerns about the poor quality of the literature, combining available evidence with expert opinion about the relative merits of non-pharmaceutical interventions for pandemic influenza may lead to a more informed and widely accepted set of recommendations. We evaluated the evidence base fo

SUBMITTER: Aledort JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2040158 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature