Improving influenza virological surveillance in Europe: strain-based reporting of antigenic and genetic characterisation data, 11 European countries, influenza season 2013/14

Influenza antigenic and genetic characterisation data are crucial for influenza vaccine composition decision making. Previously, aggregate data were reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control by European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. A system for collecting...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Broberg, Eeva K, Hungnes, Olav, Schweiger, Brunhilde, Prosenc, Katarina, Daniels, Rod, Guiomar, Raquel, Ikonen, Niina, Kossyvakis, Athanasios, Pozo Sanchez, Francisco, Puzelli, Simona, Thomas, Isabelle, Waters, Allison, Wiman, Åsa, Meijer, Adam
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Repositorio:Repisalud
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repisalud.isciii.es:20.500.12105/6645
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/6645
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Aged
Child
Child, Preschool
Epidemiological Monitoring
Europe
European Union
Feasibility Studies
Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests
Humans
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype
Hospitalization
Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype
Influenza Vaccines
Influenza, Human
Middle Aged
RNA, Viral
Seasons
Sentinel Surveillance
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sex Distribution
Vaccination
Young Adult
Descripción
Sumario:Influenza antigenic and genetic characterisation data are crucial for influenza vaccine composition decision making. Previously, aggregate data were reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control by European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. A system for collecting case-specific influenza antigenic and genetic characterisation data was established for the 2013/14 influenza season. In a pilot study, 11 EU/EEA countries reported through the new mechanism. We demonstrated feasibility of reporting strain-based antigenic and genetic data and ca 10% of influenza virus-positive specimens were selected for further characterisation. Proportions of characterised virus (sub)types were similar to influenza virus circulation levels. The main genetic clades were represented by A/StPetersburg/27/2011(H1N1)pdm09 and A/Texas/50/2012(H3N2). A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses were more prevalent in age groups (by years) < 1 (65%; p = 0.0111), 20-39 (50%; p = 0.0046) and 40-64 (55%; p = 0.00001) while A(H3N2) viruses were most prevalent in those ≥ 65 years (62%*; p = 0.0012). Hospitalised patients in the age groups 6-19 years (67%; p = 0.0494) and ≥ 65 years (52%; p = 0.0005) were more frequently infected by A/Texas/50/2012 A(H3N2)-like viruses compared with hospitalised cases in other age groups. Strain-based reporting enabled deeper understanding of influenza virus circulation among hospitalised patients and substantially improved the reporting of virus characterisation data. Therefore, strain-based reporting of readily available data is recommended to all reporting countries within the EU/EEA.