This document presents a menu of possible public measures to be taken during influenza pandemics, giving public health and scientific information on what is known or can be said about their likely effectiveness, costs (direct and indirect), acceptability, public expectations and other more practical considerations. The ‘ECDC Menu’ aims to help EU Member States and institutions, individually or collectively, decide which measures they will apply.
As epidemics of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus are extending globally, some European countries are considering how robustly to undertake case-finding among the first cases and whether to pursue and treat contacts.
ECDC intends to produce a series of interim guidance documents on suggested procedures to be put in place in order to reduce the risk of transmission of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus. This guidance only applies to a situation when there are relatively few persons under investigation, and will be revised if there seems to be a wider spread.
The meeting concluded that it would not be desirable to reach consensus on a single set of European planning assumptions but that there could usefully be agreement on the underlying technical parameters.