THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY-BASED MITIGATION STRATEGIES DURING AN INFLUENZA PANDEMIC

STATEMENT OF TASK

The Institute of Medicine convened a committee to assess the technical merit and applicability of models of influenza outbreaks as a guide to policies on community containment, whether community-wide interventions have a role in reducing infection transmission, and if so, the community impact of implementing community containment strategies.

The committee convened a major workshop to review:

• the quality of existing models about a potential influenza pandemic and their utility for predicting the effects of various community containment policies on disease mitigation;
• the available science and previous analyses of the efficacy of community mitigation approaches; and
• the historical record of community interventions utilized during previous influenza pandemics and other relevant outbreaks. Consideration will be given to the feasibility and secondary consequences of policy implementation.

The committee prepared a report based primarily on information from the workshop that includes conclusions and recommendations, based upon available evidence, regarding:

• Strengths and weaknesses of the models presented, and strategies to improve predictive ability and usefulness
• Conclusions that can be drawn from the historical record and available science, gaps in current knowledge, and approaches that would narrow these gaps
• Whether community-wide interventions have a role in reducing infection transmission and the community impact of implementing community containment strategies

The policies that were considered are those to be used in the United States. The workshop was open to the public and attendance was sought broadly. The workshop format allowed for dialogue among workshop presenters, the committee, and the audience.