Background: To better understand the epidemiological characteristic of influenza infection, the Democratic Republic of Congo set up the sentinel influenza surveillance system in 2007 with eleven health facilities. Ora...Background: To better understand the epidemiological characteristic of influenza infection, the Democratic Republic of Congo set up the sentinel influenza surveillance system in 2007 with eleven health facilities. Oral and nasopharyngeal specimens were sampled from outpatients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and inpatients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) using case definitions. Those specimens were shipped to the Influenza National Laboratory for testing with the real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. This study aimed to describe ILI and SARI patients’ epidemiological, clinical, and virological profiles. Material and Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study based on a documentary review of suspected notified influenza cases from January 2009 to December 2018. As variables, we exploited sex, age, symptoms, sentinel site of provenance, patient category, viral type and subtype identified, and period of health facility visit. Results: Of 18,461 notified cases, 1795 (9.7%) were positive for the Influenza virus, among them;53.1% of patients under five years old;68% of type A virus, 31.5% of type B;21% of SARI positive vs. 79% for ILI positive cases. The majority of cases occurred during the rainy season. Conclusion: The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the influenza infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo.展开更多
Introduction: Among the lessons learned from the 2009 influenza pandemic was the lack of a robust, standardized method that would allow a timely assessment of the severity of pandemic influenza. To remedy this deficie...Introduction: Among the lessons learned from the 2009 influenza pandemic was the lack of a robust, standardized method that would allow a timely assessment of the severity of pandemic influenza. To remedy this deficiency, WHO has set up an evaluation tool based on the following indicators: 1) transmissibility, 2) seriousness of disease, and 3) impact of the influenza pandemic. By using this pandemic influenza severity assessment (PISA) tool, this study aimed to evaluate the severity of DRC influenza seasons between 2015 and 2019 to better prepare the country against the possible occurrence of an influenza pandemic. Methods: We performed a secondary data analysis from the DRC Influenza routine surveillance. We only explored the transmissibility among PISA indicators. Results: The results of our study showed that the DRC influenza seasons had two waves. The first went from the 40th week to the 10th week, with a peak at the 50th week, and the second wave ran from the 15th week to the 40th, with a peak at the 19th week. There was an inter-wave period between the 10th and 15th weeks. Of all the studied seasons, 42.8% were characterized by low intensity, 33.3% by moderate intensity, 19.0% by high intensity, and 4.8% by extraordinary intensity. Conclusion: The use of the PISA transmissibility indicator has contributed to better understanding influenza seasons in the Democratic Republic of Congo.展开更多
文摘Background: To better understand the epidemiological characteristic of influenza infection, the Democratic Republic of Congo set up the sentinel influenza surveillance system in 2007 with eleven health facilities. Oral and nasopharyngeal specimens were sampled from outpatients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and inpatients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) using case definitions. Those specimens were shipped to the Influenza National Laboratory for testing with the real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. This study aimed to describe ILI and SARI patients’ epidemiological, clinical, and virological profiles. Material and Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study based on a documentary review of suspected notified influenza cases from January 2009 to December 2018. As variables, we exploited sex, age, symptoms, sentinel site of provenance, patient category, viral type and subtype identified, and period of health facility visit. Results: Of 18,461 notified cases, 1795 (9.7%) were positive for the Influenza virus, among them;53.1% of patients under five years old;68% of type A virus, 31.5% of type B;21% of SARI positive vs. 79% for ILI positive cases. The majority of cases occurred during the rainy season. Conclusion: The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the influenza infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
文摘Introduction: Among the lessons learned from the 2009 influenza pandemic was the lack of a robust, standardized method that would allow a timely assessment of the severity of pandemic influenza. To remedy this deficiency, WHO has set up an evaluation tool based on the following indicators: 1) transmissibility, 2) seriousness of disease, and 3) impact of the influenza pandemic. By using this pandemic influenza severity assessment (PISA) tool, this study aimed to evaluate the severity of DRC influenza seasons between 2015 and 2019 to better prepare the country against the possible occurrence of an influenza pandemic. Methods: We performed a secondary data analysis from the DRC Influenza routine surveillance. We only explored the transmissibility among PISA indicators. Results: The results of our study showed that the DRC influenza seasons had two waves. The first went from the 40th week to the 10th week, with a peak at the 50th week, and the second wave ran from the 15th week to the 40th, with a peak at the 19th week. There was an inter-wave period between the 10th and 15th weeks. Of all the studied seasons, 42.8% were characterized by low intensity, 33.3% by moderate intensity, 19.0% by high intensity, and 4.8% by extraordinary intensity. Conclusion: The use of the PISA transmissibility indicator has contributed to better understanding influenza seasons in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
