Influenza-Related Communication and Community Mitigation Strategies: Results From the 2015 Pandemic Influenza Readiness Assessment

Abstract

Emergence of a novel infectious disease, such as pandemic influenza, is the one global crisis most likely to affect the greatest number of people worldwide. Because of the potentially severe and contagious nature of influenza, a rapid multifaceted pandemic response, which includes nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and effective strategies for communication with the public are essential for a timely response and mitigating the spread of disease. A web-based questionnaire was administered via email in July 2015 to 62 Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) directors across jurisdictions that receive funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention PHEP cooperative agreement. This report focuses on two modules: Public Information and Communication and Community Mitigation. Consistent and targeted communication are critical for the acceptability and success of NPIs. All 62 jurisdictions have developed or are in the process of developing a communications plan. Community-level NPIs such as home isolation, school closures, and respiratory etiquette play a critical role in mitigating the spread of disease. Effective, ongoing communication with the public is essential to ensuring wide spread compliance of NPI’s, especially among non–English-speaking populations. Planning should also include reaching vulnerable populations and identifying the correct legal authorities for closing schools and canceling mass gatherings.

Topic Analysis of Traditional and Social Media News Coverage of the Early COVID-19 Pandemic and Implications for Public Health Communication

“…Communication of important health information during times of communicable disease pandemics is crucial to informing and educating the public. 5,42 Particularly critical for public health efforts to control an outbreak and prevent additional cases is communication during initial stages of an epidemic as disease enters a population and begins to spread. Inherent challenges exist during these initial stages as much about the agent (ie, incubation period, routes of transmission) and disease (treatment approaches, severity) may be unknown, as was the case with COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus.…”

“…pandemics is crucial to informing and educating the public 5,42 . Particularly critical for public health efforts to control an outbreak and prevent additional cases is communication during initial stages of an epidemic as disease enters a population and begins to spread.…”

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Barriers to Implementing Select Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions to Reduce the Transmission of Pandemic Influenza - United States, 2019

“…11 A survey administered in 2015 to 62 Public Health Emergency Preparedness directors in the 50 US states, eight US territories and freely associated states, and four cities indicated that the most important factors for selecting and triggering the implementation of NPIs during an influenza pandemic were severity of illness, transmissibility, and populations most affected. 7 Other important factors were CDC and subject matter expert recommendations, geographic spread of the disease, disease impact in relation to available mitigation resources, and vaccine availability.…”

A topic analysis of traditional and social media news coverage of the early COVID-19 pandemic and implications for public health communication

“…Communication of important health information during times of communicable disease pandemics is crucial to informing and educating the public (Naik et al, 2019; US Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018 Edition).…”