Strategies designed to reduce the possibility of spreading disease during a pandemic can save lives. That's particularly so when the measures are used in combination and implemented soon after an outbreak begins. These findings were revealed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a new study based on public records from the devastating 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.

An article on the subject in the August 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association contains information that can help those planning for the next pandemic, says CDC. The agency believes this is particularly important because a vaccine, considered the best protection against pandemic influenza, is unlikely to be available when an outbreak occurs. Strategies that delay or reduce the impact (known as nonpharmaceutical interventions) may help reduce the spread of disease until a vaccine is available.

The CDC's Dr. Martin Cetron says the communities most successful during the 1918 pandemic quickly enacted a variety of measures, including voluntary isolation and quarantine, "social distancing" in the workplace and community, and dismissal of students from school classrooms. These measures form the basis of CDC's guidelines for how American communities can best protect themselves.

During a 24-week period in 1918 to 1919, more than 115,000 pneumonia and influenza deaths in 43 cities were attributed to the pandemic.

According to CDC, "Cities that began interventions earlier had more success in decreasing excess deaths than those that implemented the measure later, regardless of how long the later interventions were in place or how they were executed."

[Source: OSHA Compliance Advisor. Subscribe today!]