Bibliographic information
GuidelineWHO guideline on public health and social measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza
Year of Publication2026
Issuing InstitutionWorld Health Organization
Recommendation
New
WHO suggests voluntary self-quarantine for individuals exposed to a confirmed case in their households or elsewhere to reduce the transmission of influenza viruses during influenza epidemics and pandemics of high severity.
Recommended in favor
Conditional
Certainty of evidence
Very low
Notes and Remarks
Quarantining exposed individuals may not be feasible in some settings depending on available resources, space and facilities.
- With the availability of RATs of sufficiently high sensitivity and specificity, the daily testing of contacts could be considered in lieu of quarantine measures.
- The duration of quarantine should be informed by the incubation period of the virus.
- Mandatory quarantine at home or in a facility may be considered in exceptional circumstances to achieve suppression or mitigation of virus transmission but may have severe social and economic implications.
- The costs of quarantine to households and wider society can be high. This measure could potentially lead to high levels of absenteeism which could negatively impact business continuity and the provision of essential services during high levels of community transmission. Governments should consider implementing social security policies to mitigate the impact of this measure, especially in terms of addressing wealth inequalities and risk to vulnerable groups such as women and children.