School closure and mitigation of pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Hong Kong

DOI: 10.3201/eid1603.091216
Suggested citation for this article: Wu JT, Cowling BJ, Lau EHY, Ip DKM, Ho L-M, Tsang T, et al. School closure and mitigation of pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Hong Kong. Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 Mar; [Epub ahead of print]

School Closure and Mitigation of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Hong Kong
Joseph T. Wu, Benjamin J. Cowling, Eric H.Y. Lau, Dennis K.M. Ip, Lai-Ming Ho, Thomas Tsang, Shuk-Kwan Chuang, Pak-Yin Leung, Su-Vui Lo, Shao-Haei Liu, and Steven Riley

Author affiliations: The University of Hong Kong School of Public Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China (J.T. Wu, B.J. Cowling, E.H.Y. Lau, D.K.M. Ip, L.-M. Ho, S. Riley); Centre for Health Protection, Hong Kong (T. Tsang, S.-K. Chuang); Hospital Authority, Hong Kong (P.-K. Leung, S.-V. Lo, S.-H Liu); and Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong (S.-V. Lo)

In Hong Kong, kindergartens and primary schools were closed when local transmission of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was identified. Secondary schools closed for summer vacation shortly afterwards. By fitting a model of reporting and transmission to case data, we estimated that transmission was reduced ≈25% when secondary schools closed.

The emergence and subsequent global spread of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 presents several challenges to health policy makers. Although some countries have substantial antiviral drug stockpiles available for treatment and chemoprophylaxis and vaccines are became available toward the end of 2009, nonpharmaceutical interventions remain the primary resource available to most populations to mitigate the impact of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (1). One such nonpharmaceutical intervention is school closure, either reactively following outbreaks or proactively at district or regional levels (2,3). A recent review has highlighted the lack of consensus over the potential benefits of school closures and the potential for economic and social costs (4). Although the current pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus is of moderate severity, data from...

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