Importance of routine public health influenza surveillance: Detection of an unusual W-shaped influenza morbidity curve

Peter Georgantopoulos, Eleanor Peters Bergquist, Richard C. Knaup, John R. Anthony, Thomas C. Bailey, Michael P. Williams, Steven J. Lawrence

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Seasonal influenza causes excess morbidity and mortality at the extremes of age: It disproportionately affects the very young and the very old, typically resulting in "U"-shaped age-distributed curves. By means of a well-established public health department surveillance system using positive influenza tests submitted from sentinel sites, the authors generated annual influenza-specific morbidity curves over a 10-year period (1998-2008) for St. Louis County, Missouri. The authors detected an unusually high incidence of cases of medically attended test-positive influenza, particularly in young adults, during the 2007-2008 season, resulting in an unexpected "W"-shaped age-distributed morbidity curve that was distinctly unique in comparison with the prior 9 influenza seasons. Public health influenza surveillance programs are useful tools for detecting emerging epidemiologic trends that may have clinical importance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1533-1540
Number of pages8
JournalAmerican journal of epidemiology
Volume170
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2009

Keywords

  • Age groups
  • Influenza, human
  • Population surveillance
  • Public health

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