Leveraging the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System for global respiratory syncytial virus surveillance—opportunities and challenges

Broor, Shobha; Campbell, Harry; Hirve, Siddhivinayak; Hague, Siri; Jackson, Sandra; Moen, Ann; Nair, Harish; Palekar, Rakhee; Rajatonirina, Soatiana; Smith, P. G.; Venter, Marietjie; Wairagkar, Niteen; Zambon, Maria; Ziegler, Thedi; Zhang, Wenqing

doi:10.1111/irv.12672

Cited by 35 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Wheezing, rhinitis and tachypnoea seem like notable additional clinical signs associated with RSV-positivity in children, as already described in a previous study [ 16 ], and would need to be included in a second pilot study to fully assess their relevance in increasing the case definition sensitivity. Extending the case definition to include other symptoms such as sepsis and apnoea might also need to be considered for children < 6 months, as recommended in WHO documents for RSV surveillance [ 10 , 14 , 15 ]. This would probably allow to better address the severity of disease caused by RSV in this age group, as these symptoms might be more frequently associated to severe forms [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our usual SARI case definition, based on the WHO SARI case definition, was used: acute respiratory infection with fever ≥ 38 °C (or history of fever reported by the patient) and cough or dyspnoea, with onset of symptoms within the past 10 days, and requiring hospitalisation (minimum overnight). However, in order to align with one of the case definitions proposed in WHO’s RSV strategy document [ 14 , 15 ], the participating hospitals were recommended to be flexible over the fever criteria, meaning that patients without fever but meeting the other criteria could also be included.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Capturing respiratory syncytial virus season in Belgium using the influenza severe acute respiratory infection surveillance network, season 2018/19

et al. 2020

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Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of severe respiratory illness in young children (< 5 years old) and older adults (≥ 65 years old) leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the implementation of a dedicated surveillance in countries. Aim We tested the capacity of the severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) hospital network to contribute to RSV surveillance in Belgium. Methods During the 2018/19 influenza season, we started the SARI surveillance for influenza in Belgium in week 40, earlier than in the past, to follow RSV activity, which usually precedes influenza virus circulation. While the WHO SARI case definition for influenza normally used by the SARI hospital network was employed, flexibility over the fever criterion was allowed, so patients without fever but meeting the other case definition criteria could be included in the surveillance. Results Between weeks 40 2018 and 2 2019, we received 508 samples from SARI patients. We found an overall RSV detection rate of 62.4% (317/508), with rates varying depending on the age group: 77.6% in children aged < 5 years (253/326) and 34.4% in adults aged ≥ 65 years (44/128). Over 90% of the RSV-positive samples also positive for another tested respiratory virus (80/85) were from children aged < 5 years. Differences were also noted between age groups for symptoms, comorbidities and complications. Conclusion With only marginal modifications in the case definition and the period of surveillance, the Belgian SARI network would be able to substantially contribute to RSV surveillance and burden evaluation in children and older adults, the two groups of particular interest for WHO.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing respiratory syncytial virus season in Belgium using the influenza severe acute respiratory infection surveillance network, season 2018/19

et al. 2020

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“…Currently, the WHO is performing a pilot study which aims to test whether it is feasible to make use of the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System platform for RSV surveillance without adversely affecting the well-established ILI and SARI surveillance of influenza [30]. The first results of this pilot are encouraging and even indicated that combining RSV and influenza surveillance can be an advantage to the current influenza surveillance systems [31].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current practices for respiratory syncytial virus surveillance across the EU/EEA Member States, 2017

Mollers¹,

Barnadas

Broberg

et al. 2019

Eurosurveillance

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BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major contributor to lower respiratory tract infections worldwide and several vaccine candidates are currently in development. Following vaccine introduction, reliable RSV surveillance should enable monitoring of vaccination impact. Data on the RSV disease burden in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) are sparse.AimThe aim of this study was to gather knowledge on current practices of national RSV surveillance in the EU/EEA.MethodsNational Coordinators and National Focal Points for Influenza (epidemiologists and virologists) from the EU/EEA countries (n = 31) were invited to participate in an online survey in August and September 2017. The questionnaire covered questions on epidemiological and laboratory aspects of RSV surveillance.ResultsAll EU/EEA countries except Liechtenstein replied to the survey. Eighteen countries reported to have a sentinel surveillance system, 26 countries a non-sentinel surveillance system and three countries to have neither. RSV data collection was mostly done within the context of influenza surveillance. A wide range of diagnostic and characterisation assays was used for the detection of RSV.DiscussionThe majority of EU/EEA countries have some surveillance for RSV in place. The prevailing integration of RSV surveillance into the existing influenza sentinel surveillance system may lead to under-reporting of RSV. The documented variations in existing RSV surveillance systems and their outputs indicate that there is scope for developing guidelines on establishing comparable methods and outcomes for RSV surveillance across the EU/EEA, to ensure the availability of a consistent evidence base for assessing future vaccination programmes.

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“…All laboratories successfully achieved a 100% correct score 13. RSV Reference Laboratories functioned according to Terms of Reference developed by the WHO Global Influenza Program and the WHO Global RSV Surveillance 13,14…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Results from the WHO external quality assessment for the respiratory syncytial virus pilot, 2016‐17

Jackson

Peret

Ziegler

et al. 2020

Influenza Resp Viruses

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Leveraging the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System for global respiratory syncytial virus surveillance—opportunities and challenges

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 35 publications

References 25 publications

Capturing respiratory syncytial virus season in Belgium using the influenza severe acute respiratory infection surveillance network, season 2018/19

Capturing respiratory syncytial virus season in Belgium using the influenza severe acute respiratory infection surveillance network, season 2018/19

Current practices for respiratory syncytial virus surveillance across the EU/EEA Member States, 2017

Results from the WHO external quality assessment for the respiratory syncytial virus pilot, 2016‐17

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