Influenza in Africa

Yazdanbakhsh, Maria; Kremsner, Peter G.

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000182

Cited by 74 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The general dearth of influenza surveillance in Africa limits accurate understanding of influenza epidemiology,1, 2, 3 and in 2009, it contributed to the relatively late detection of the A(H1N1)pdm09 on the continent 4. Influenza remains a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality resulting in approximately 500 000 deaths annually 5.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In West Africa, including Ghana, sentinel surveillance conducted in 2009–2010 detected influenza in 21–25% of samples from influenza‐like illness and 9% of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients 6. With increasing diagnostic capacity and accelerated surveillance established throughout Africa in response to the 2009 pandemic, there is ample evidence that influenza is indeed prevalent, occurs throughout the year, and is culpable for an appreciable attributable burden of febrile illnesses 4. In line with the objectives of its National Preparedness and Response Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza: 2005–2006, the Ghana Health Service began influenza surveillance in 2007.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such surveillance for respiratory syndromes, including SARI, has been shown to effectively identify influenza cases,9 and several studies have also confirmed influenza infection among hospitalized and non‐hospitalized patients with undifferentiated febrile illness 4, 7. In young children, influenza patients often present for medical treatment with only fever;10 one recent study found that 19% of 106 influenza‐positive hospitalized infants <3 months old had fever but no respiratory symptoms 11…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sentinel surveillance for influenza among severe acute respiratory infection and acute febrile illness inpatients at three hospitals in Ghana

Jones

Ampofo

Akuffo³

et al. 2016

Influenza Resp Viruses

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BackgroundInfluenza epidemiology in Africa is generally not well understood. Using syndrome definitions to screen patients for laboratory confirmation of infection is an established means to effectively conduct influenza surveillance.MethodsTo compare influenza‐related epidemiologic data, from October 2010 through March 2013, we enrolled hospitalized severe acute respiratory infection (SARI; fever with respiratory symptoms) and acute febrile illness (AFI; fever without respiratory or other localizing symptoms) patients from three referral hospitals in Ghana. Demographic and epidemiologic data were obtained from enrolled patients after which nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected, and processed by molecular methods for the presence of influenza viruses.ResultsOf 730 SARI patients, 59 (8%) were influenza positive; of 543 AFI patients, 34 (6%) were positive for influenza. Both SARI and AFI surveillance yielded influenza A(H3N2) (3% versus 1%), A(H1N1)pdm09 (2% versus 1%), and influenza B (3% versus 4%) in similar proportions. Data from both syndromes show year‐round influenza transmission but with increased caseloads associated with the rainy seasons.ConclusionsAs an appreciable percentage of influenza cases (37%) presented without defined respiratory symptoms, and thus met the AFI but not the SARI definition, it is important to consider broader screening criteria (i.e., AFI) to identify all laboratory‐confirmed influenza. The identified influenza transmission seasonality has important implications for the timing of related public health interventions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sentinel surveillance for influenza among severe acute respiratory infection and acute febrile illness inpatients at three hospitals in Ghana

Jones

Ampofo

Akuffo³

et al. 2016

Influenza Resp Viruses

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“…Reports questioning the efficacy and safety of the pandemic vaccine [8][9][10][11][12] led to low vaccination coverage in health-care providers in some countries [13][14][15]. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there was a general lack of data on influenza, including both epidemiological data as well as data on seasonal vaccination against influenza [16][17][18]. Influenza vaccination in health-care providers is poorly documented in Côte d'Ivoire, resulting in uncertainty about the willingness to be vaccinated against influenza among this group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) in Cote d'Ivoire: health-care providers’ knowledge of influenza and attitudes towards vaccination

Coulibaly

Nzussouo

Kadjo

et al. 2013

J Infect Dev Ctries

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Introduction: During the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic (pH1N1), different methods were promoted to reduce the spread of influenza, including respiratory etiquette and vaccination. To identify knowledge gaps about influenza and to plan the vaccination campaign against the pandemic in Côte d'Ivoire, a survey was conducted among health-care providers (HCPs) to assess their knowledge about influenza and their willingness to be vaccinated. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was performed in the city of Abidjan on 16-18 February 2010, in the three university teaching hospitals, a randomly selected general hospital, and two randomly selected private clinics. In face-to-face interviews, 383 health-care professionals were asked questions about their knowledge of influenza, means of influenza prevention, and their willingness to be vaccinated. Data analysis, both univariate and multivariate, was performed using SPSS. Results: Willingness to be vaccinated against pH1N1 was 80% (n = 284), and 83% of the HCPs would recommend the vaccine to others. The respiratory mode of transmission of influenza was known by 85% (n = 295) of the participants and 50% (n = 174) believed that seasonal influenza virus and pH1N1 virus were different. In a multivariate model, the factors significantly associated with willingness to receive pH1N1vaccine were fear of pH1N1 disease (OR = 2.1; IC = 1.02-4.35), having only a high school education (OR = 8.28; IC = 2.04-33.60), and feeling at risk to contract pH1N1 (OR = 11.43; IC = 4.77-27.38). Conclusion: The willingness to be vaccinated against influenza A (H1N1) by health professionals is real.

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“…Also, the burden and character of the disease in low‐resource settings are still incompletely understood 25 . In our locality, which is considered to be a low‐resource country, there were no significant increases in disease burden when considering hospital stay, ICU admission, and mortality in H1N1‐confirmed CAP when compared to non‐H1N1 CAP (Table 4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Clinical epidemiology comparison of H1N1 RT-PCR-positive and RT-PCR-negative pneumonia during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt

Ahmed

Awadalla

Saleh

2011

Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses

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Please cite this paper as: Ahmed et al. (2011) Clinical epidemiology comparison of H1N1 RT‐PCR‐positive and RT‐PCR‐negative pneumonia during the 2009–2010 pandemic in Mansoura University hospitals, Egypt. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 5(4), 241–246 Background Worldwide, the infectivity and disease burden of the H1N1 pandemic were overestimated because of limited clinical experience concerning patient presentation and outcome of those infected with the novel H1N1 virus. Objective This study aimed to compare the epidemiologic clinical data among H1N1 RT‐PCR‐positive and RT‐PCR‐negative pneumonic patients during the 2009–2010 pandemic in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt. Methods A record‐based, case–control study was conducted for 43 adult patients admitted to the chest department isolation unit with community‐acquired pneumonia during the 2009–2010 H1N1 pandemic after reviewing of 198 suspected and confirmed H1N1 hospitalized cases. Of these patients, 20 cases were confirmed to be H1N1‐positive using an RT‐PCR detection technique. The remaining 23 patients were RT‐PCR‐negative. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological data were collected and analyzed using spss version 11. Results A review of 198 hospital case records for revealed one main peak of H1N1 influenza during the last week of December 2009. Pneumonic patients who were H1N1‐positive were more likely to present with sore throat (P = 0·005), dyspnea (P = 0·002), and gastrointestinal (GIT) complaints (vomiting and diarrhea P = 0·02) when compared to the H1N1‐negative group. Also, complications were significantly more frequent (P = 0·01) in the H1N1‐confirmed group than in the non‐confirmed group. However, no significant differences were found between the groups regarding length of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU), and admission or mortality. Conclusion Sore throat, dyspnea, and presence of GIT complaints increase the suspicion of H1N1 positivity in pneumonia acquired during an H1N1 pandemic. However, H1N1 did not worsen the disease burden of pneumonia.

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Influenza in Africa

Abstract: Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that there needs to be better awareness, surveillance, and clinical management of common febrile diseases in Africa, especially influenza.

Cited by 74 publications

References 21 publications

Sentinel surveillance for influenza among severe acute respiratory infection and acute febrile illness inpatients at three hospitals in Ghana

Sentinel surveillance for influenza among severe acute respiratory infection and acute febrile illness inpatients at three hospitals in Ghana

Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) in Cote d'Ivoire: health-care providers’ knowledge of influenza and attitudes towards vaccination

Clinical epidemiology comparison of H1N1 RT-PCR-positive and RT-PCR-negative pneumonia during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt

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