What is it about?
The role of social-distancing measures, such as school closures, is a controversial aspect of pandemic mitigation planning. However, the timing of 2009 pandemic provides a natural experiment for evaluating the impact of school closure during holidays on influenza transmission. The North-west region experienced two notable waves, with the peak of the first wave coinciding with the start of a 4 week school holiday (September–October’09). In the southern region the two waves were less clear cut, though again the first peak of the first wave coincided with the start of school holidays – albeit of less than 2 weeks duration (August’09). Our analysis suggests that the school holidays had a significant influence on the epidemiology of the 2009 pandemic in India. We estimate that school holidays reduced the reproduction number by 14–27% in different regions of India, relative to levels seen outside holiday periods.
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Why is it important?
We estimate that school holidays reduced the reproduction number by 14–27% in different regions of India, relative to levels seen outside holiday periods.
Perspectives
Happy to be part of this projects with our ongoing world class collaborators. This work reinforces past studies showing the significant impact of school holidays on spread of 2009 pandemic virus, and by inference the role of contact patterns in children on transmission.
Dr. Sheikh Taslim Ali
University of Hong Kong
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Transmission dynamics of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in India: The impact of holiday-related school closure, Epidemics, December 2013, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.epidem.2013.08.001.
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