An Effective Quarantine Measure Reduced the Total Incidence of Influenza A H1N1 in the Workplace: Another Way to Control the H1N1 Flu Pandemic

Abstract

The incidences of influenza A H1N1 and those of the subgroups whose families got ILI in both cohorts were compared by a Cox regression model and log-rank test. Results: There were 189 and 270 workers who got H1N1 infection during the follow-up period in each cohort. In this period 317 workers in Cohort 1 were asked to wait at home for several days (100% obeyed). The intervention group (Cohort 1) showed a statistically significant lower risk (p for log-rank test=0.033) compared with the control (Cohort 2), and the hazard ratio of the intervention was 0.799 [0.658-0.970] after adjusting for age, sex, BMI and smoking status. The workers who were asked to wait at home showed H1N1 infection more frequently (49 out of 317) compared with the workers whose family got ILI but were not asked to wait and work regularly (77 out of 990,). Conclusions: The waiting on full pay policy in the workplace reduced the overall risk of influenza A H1N1 by about 20% in one flu season in Japan. This kind of non-vaccine measure will be a promising option in workplaces to control the next flu pandemic. (J Occup Health 2011; 53: 287-292)

Use of non‐pharmaceutical interventions to reduce the transmission of influenza in adults: A systematic review

“…Among the excluded articles, 19 were identified as not being RCT, however met other inclusion criteria . The level of evidence types consisted of seven level III‐2 studies (prospective/retrospective cohort, case control and quasi‐experimental) with the remaining studies being level III‐3 (retrospective cross‐sectional, cross‐sectional, historical observational).…”

“…Among the excluded articles, 19 were identified as not being RCT, however met other inclusion criteria. 5,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The level of evidence types consisted of seven level III-2 studies (prospective/retrospective cohort, case control and quasi-experimental) with the remaining studies being level III-3 (retrospective cross-sectional, cross-sectional, historical observational). The overall quality of these excluded studies was poor, with only a small number representing a low risk of bias.…”

Was Mandatory Quarantine Necessary in China for Controlling the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic?

“…Many mitigation methods are effective for a moderate influenza pandemic. The waiting for full pay policy in the workplace reduced the overall risk of an H1N1 pandemic by about 20% in one flu season in Japan [ 37 ]. Prevention policy of many countries shifted from containment to mitigation after sustained community transmission became established, such as in Singapore [ 38 ], South Korea [ 39 ] and the United Kingdom [ 40 ].…”

Viral Infections, an Overview with a Focus on Prevention of Transmission

“…Influenza A virus transmission was estimated to be reduced by 25% (Wu et al, 2010). Home quarantine was also shown to reduce the incidence of pandemic influenza A in the workplace (Miyaki et al, 2011). In fact, home quarantine has been used to control the community spread of SARS in Beijing, Taiwan, Singapore, and Toronto (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2003; Cava et al, 2005;Hsu et al, 2006).…”