What are private nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)?
Private NPIs are on a regular basis preventive actions, aside from pharmaceutical interventions akin to getting vaccinated and taking medication that may assist hold your self and others from getting and spreading respiratory sicknesses just like the flu. They embody:
- Staying house if you find yourself sick.
- Protecting coughs and sneezes with a tissue.
- Washing palms with cleaning soap and water or utilizing hand sanitizer when cleaning soap and water just isn’t accessible.
Throughout a flu pandemic there are measures you may take along with these on a regular basis preventive actions. They embody:
- Staying house when you’ve got been uncovered to a household or family member who’s sick.
- Protecting your nostril and mouth with a masks or fabric in case you are sick and round folks or at a mass gathering in a group the place the pandemic is already occurring.
Public well being professionals want the assistance of directors for colleges, workplaces, and group occasions to stop the unfold of respiratory sicknesses like pandemic flu of their space. Educating and reminding folks to take these on a regular basis preventive actions constantly at house, in school, at work, and at a gathering is a vital a part of a company’s or group’s technique for minimizing the dangers attributable to flu and different respiratory sicknesses.
Additionally see how group NPIs and environmental NPIs contribute to an total group technique for pandemic influenza mitigation.
The actions you’re taking and plans you make at this time matter. To make sure the best impression, CDC recommends that communities and organizations incorporate a mixture of non-public, group, and environmental NPIs into their pandemic flu plans.
Why are private NPIs necessary?
The flu virus is believed to unfold primarily from individual to individual by way of droplets that come from the nostril and mouth when a sick individual coughs, sneezes, or talks. The flu virus may additionally unfold when folks contact one thing with flu virus on it, after which contact their eyes, nostril, or mouth. Many different viruses that trigger respiratory sicknesses unfold this manner, too.
Whereas getting an annual flu vaccination is one of the best ways to stop seasonal flu, private NPIs are easy on a regular basis preventive actions that individuals can take to assist decrease their threat of coming involved with flu and different comparable viruses. These on a regular basis preventive actions function an additional layer of safety even after individuals are vaccinated.
Within the occasion {that a} new flu virus emerges that may quickly unfold from individual to individual worldwide, inflicting a flu pandemic, a vaccine will not be instantly accessible. Throughout a pandemic, private NPIs change into a few of the most necessary ways in which people can defend themselves and others from the flu.
Go to different elements of this web site to find out about methods folks can defend themselves and others from getting and spreading the flu at house, in school, at work, and at a gathering.