Characterizing the epidemiology, virology, and clinical features of influenza in China's first severe acute respiratory infection sentinel surveillance system, February 2011-October 2013

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases 2015-03, Vol.15 (1), p.143-143, Article 143
• Main Authors: Peng, Zhibin, Feng, Luzhao, Carolyn, Greene M, Wang, Kaili, Zhu, Guozhong, Zhang, Yequn, Hu, Jumei, Huang, Yiwei, Pan, Huiqiong, Guo, Nongjian, Xing, Chunyan, Chu, Yanhui, Cao, Zhaolong, Yu, Deshan, Liu, Linling, Chen, Zeling, Zeng, Fang, Xu, Wen, Xiong, Xin, Cheng, Xiuwei, Guo, Hua, Chen, Wu, Li, Ling, Jiang, Hui, Zheng, Jiandong, Xu, Zhen, Yu, Hongjie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Care and treatment; Child; Child, Preschool; China - epidemiology; Diagnosis; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Influenza A virus - isolation & purification; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - isolation & purification; Influenza B virus - isolation & purification; Influenza, Human - diagnosis; Influenza, Human - epidemiology; Influenza, Human - virology; Lung diseases; Male; Middle Aged; Risk factors; Sentinel Surveillance; Severity of Illness Index; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-015-0884-1

After the 2009 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic, China established its first severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) sentinel surveillance system. We analyzed data from SARI cases in 10 hospitals in 10 provinces in China from February 2011 to October 2013. Among 5,644 SARI cases, 330 (6%) were influenza-positive. Among these, 62% were influenza A and 38% were influenza B. Compared with influenza-negative cases, influenza-positive SARI cases had a higher median age (20.0 years vs.11.0, p=0.003) and were more likely to have at least one underlying chronic medical condition (age adjusted percent: 28% vs. 25%, p