WHO: School closure can slow down spread of A/H1N1 virus

"School closure can operate as a proactive measure, aimed at reducing transmission in the school and spread into the wider community," the UN agency said in a news briefing posted on its official website.

According to the agency, the main health benefit of proactive school closure comes from slowing down the spread of an outbreak within a given area and thus flattening the peak of infections.

"This benefit becomes especially important when the number of people requiring medical care at the peak of the pandemic threatens to saturate or overwhelm health care capacity," it said.

By slowing the speed of spread, school closure can also buy some time as countries intensify preparedness measures or build up supplies of vaccines, antiviral drugs, and other interventions, it added.

But the timing of school closure is critically important. Modeling studies suggest that school closure has its greatest benefits when schools are closed very early in an outbreak, ideally before one percent of the population falls ill.

Under ideal conditions, school closure can reduce the demand for health care by an estimated 3050 percent at the peak of the pandemic. However, if schools close too late in the course of a community-wide outbreak, the resulting reduction in transmission is likely to be very limited, Kazinform refers to Xinhuanet.

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