Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Influenza, Human ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the policies on 2009 influenza pandemic in Korea at the end of first wave. METHODS: The main policies and the estimation of these were described according to the progress of 2009 influenza pandemic. RESULTS: The public health measures for containment were estimated to be successful in the early stage. The preparedness of antiviral agents and vaccines before the pandemic, risk-communication on pandemic influenza and policies of government including vaccines, and the education of health care worker and support of health care institutions was not enough to respond to the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: The additional evaluation should be performed at the end of the pandemic in various aspects including health and socioeconomic effects.
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use ; Disaster Planning/*organization & administration ; *Disease Outbreaks ; *Health Policy ; Humans ; *Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human/drug therapy/*epidemiology/prevention & control ; Program Evaluation ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

The national strategy against pandemic influenza essentially consists of 3 prongs: (i) effective surveillance, (ii) mitigation of the pandemic's impact, and (iii) render the population immune through vaccination. When the pandemic hits Singapore, the response plan aims to achieve the following 3 outcomes: (i) maintenance of essential services to limit social and economic disruption, (ii) reduction of morbidity and mortality through antiviral treatment, and (iii) slow and limit the spread of influenza to reduce the surge on healthcare services. The biggest challenge will come from managing the surge of demand on healthcare services. A high level of preparedness will help healthcare services better cope with the surge.
Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Communicable Disease Control ; Contact Tracing ; Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; statistics & numerical data ; Global Health ; Humans ; Influenza Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; Influenza, Human ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; Population Surveillance ; Quarantine ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; Singapore ; epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: The pandemic of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus has required decision-makers to act in the face of the substantial uncertainties. In this study, we evaluated the potential impact of the pandemic response strategies in the Republic of Korea using a mathematical model. METHODS: We developed a deterministic model of a pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in a structured population using the demographic data from the Korean population and the epidemiological feature of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009. To estimate the parameter values for the deterministic model, we used the available data from the previous studies on pandemic influenza. The pandemic response strategies of the Republic of Korea for novel influenza A (H1N1) virus such as school closure, mass vaccination (70% of population in 30 days), and a policy for anti-viral drug (treatment or prophylaxis) were applied to the deterministic model. RESULTS: The effect of two-week school closure on the attack rate was low regardless of the timing of the intervention. The earlier vaccination showed the effect of greater delays in reaching the peak of outbreaks. When it was no vaccination, vaccination at initiation of outbreak, vaccination 90 days after the initiation of outbreak and vaccination at the epidemic peak point, the total number of clinical cases for 400 days were 20.8 million, 4.4 million, 4.7 million and 12.6 million, respectively. The pandemic response strategies of the Republic of Korea delayed the peak of outbreaks (about 40 days) and decreased the number of cumulative clinical cases (8 million). CONCLUSIONS: Rapid vaccination was the most important factor to control the spread of pandemic influenza, and the response strategies of the Republic of Korea were shown to delay the spread of pandemic influenza in this deterministic model.
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use ; Disaster Planning/*organization & administration ; *Disease Outbreaks ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Immunization Programs/organization & administration ; *Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Influenza, Human/drug therapy/*epidemiology/prevention & control ; *Models, Theoretical ; Quarantine/organization & administration ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology