Absenteeism in schools during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic: a useful tool for early detection of influenza activity in the community?

Certain influenza outbreaks, including the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, can predominantly affect school-age children. Therefore the use of school absenteeism data has been considered as a potential tool for providing early warning of increasing influenza activity in the community. This study ret...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology and infection 2012-07, Vol.140 (7), p.1328-1336
Main Authors: KARA, E. O., ELLIOT, A. J., BAGNALL, H., FOORD, D. G. F., PNAISER, R., OSMAN, H., SMITH, G. E., OLOWOKURE, B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absenteeism
Adolescent
Age groups
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Children
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Epidemiological Monitoring
Female
Fever
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Health surveillance
Humans
Influenza
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - isolation & purification
Influenza, Human - epidemiology
Influenza, Human - virology
Laboratories
Male
Microbiology
Miscellaneous
Pandemics
Population
Public health
Retrospective Studies
School age children
School year
Schools
Secondary schools
Statistical significance
Student absenteeism
Surveillance
United Kingdom - epidemiology
Virology
Warnings
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Summary:Certain influenza outbreaks, including the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, can predominantly affect school-age children. Therefore the use of school absenteeism data has been considered as a potential tool for providing early warning of increasing influenza activity in the community. This study retrospectively evaluates the usefulness of these data by comparing them with existing syndromic surveillance systems and laboratory data. Weekly mean percentages of absenteeism in 373 state schools (children aged 4–18 years) in Birmingham, UK, from September 2006 to September 2009, were compared with established syndromic surveillance systems including a telephone health helpline, a general practitioner sentinel network and laboratory data for influenza. Correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship between each syndromic system. In June 2009, school absenteeism generally peaked concomitantly with the existing influenza surveillance systems in England. Weekly school absenteeism surveillance would not have detected pandemic influenza A(H1N1) earlier but daily absenteeism data and the development of baselines could improve the timeliness of the system.
ISSN:0950-2688
1469-4409
DOI:10.1017/S0950268811002093