Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology)
In epidemiology, a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) is any method used to reduce the spread of an epidemic disease without requiring pharmaceutical drug treatments. Examples of non-pharmaceutical interventions that reduce the spread of infectious diseases include wearing a face mask and staying away from sick people.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points to personal, community, and environmental interventions. NPIs have been recommended for pandemic influenza at both local and global levels and studied at large scale during the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. NPIs are typically used in the period between the emergence of an epidemic disease and the deployment of an effective vaccine.