School Closures and Student Contact Patterns | CDC EID

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Volume 17, Number 2–February 2011
Dispatch
School Closures and Student Contact Patterns
Charlotte Jackson, Punam Mangtani, Emilia Vynnycky, Katherine Fielding, Aileen Kitching, Huda Mohamed, Anita Roche, and Helen Maguire

Author affiliations: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK (C. Jackson, P. Mangtani, K. Fielding); Health Protection Agency, London (E. Vynnycky, A. Kitching, A. Roche, H. Maguire); and Health Protection Agency, Birmingham, UK (H. Mohamed)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To determine how school closure for pandemic (H1N1) 2009 affected students' contact patterns, we conducted a retrospective questionnaire survey at a UK school 2 weeks after the school reopened. School closure was associated with a 65% reduction in the mean total number of contacts for each student.

During pandemic (H1N1) 2009, several countries closed schools (1–6) to slow virus transmission. The effects of such school closures on student contact patterns have not been directly quantified. We report these effects for students from a UK secondary school.

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School Closures and Student Contact Patterns | CDC EID



Suggested Citation for this Article
Jackson C, Mangtani P, Vynnycky E, Fielding K, Kitching A, Mohamed H, et al. School closures and student contact patterns. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Feb [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/2/245.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1702.100458


Comments to the Authors
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Charlotte Jackson, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, London WC1E 7HT, UK; email: charlotte.jackson@lshtm.ac.uk