CDC updates pre-pandemic planning guidance

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday issued updated guidance on using non-pharmaceutical interventions to control disease and exposure during a flu pandemic. The guidance incorporates the latest scientific evidence and lessons learned from the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, new and updated pandemic assessment and planning tools, and links to pre-pandemic planning guides for different community settings. Categories of non-pharmaceutical interventions include personal protective measures for everyday use, such as voluntary home isolation of ill persons, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene; personal protective measures reserved for flu pandemics, such as quarantine of exposed household members and use of face masks in community settings when ill; community measures aimed at increasing social distancing, such as school closures; and environmental measures, such as routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces.