Usefulness of clinical definitions of influenza for public health surveillance purposes
Domínguez, Ángela (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública)
Soldevila, Núria (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública)
Torner, Núria (Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya)
Martínez, Ana (Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya)
Godoy, Pere (Universitat de Lleida)
Rius i Gibert, Maria Cristina (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona)
Jané i Checa, Mireia (Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Date:	2020
Abstract:	This study investigated the performance of various case definitions and influenza symptoms in a primary healthcare sentinel surveillance system. A retrospective study of the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the cases reported by a primary healthcare sentinel surveillance network for eleven years in Catalonia was conducted. Crude and adjusted diagnostic odds ratios (aDORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the case definitions and symptoms for all weeks and epidemic weeks were estimated. The most predictive case definition for laboratory-confirmed influenza was the World Health Organization (WHO) case definition for ILI in all weeks (aDOR 2. 69; 95% CI 2. 42-2. 99) and epidemic weeks (aDOR 2. 20; 95% CI 1. 90-2. 54). The symptoms that were significant positive predictors for confirmed influenza were fever, cough, myalgia, headache, malaise, and sudden onset. Fever had the highest aDOR in all weeks (4. 03; 95% CI 3. 38-4. 80) and epidemic weeks (2. 78; 95% CI 2. 21-3. 50). All of the case definitions assessed performed better in patients with comorbidities than in those without. The performance of symptoms varied by age groups, with fever being of high value in older people, and cough being of high value in children. In patients with comorbidities, the performance of fever was the highest (aDOR 5. 45; 95% CI 3. 43-8. 66). No differences in the performance of the case definition or symptoms in influenza cases according to virus type were found.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Case definition ; Influenza ; Performance assessment ; Primary healthcare physician ; Sentinel surveillance system ; Symptoms
Published in:	Viruses, Vol. 12 Núm. 1 (2020) , p. 95, ISSN 1999-4915

DOI: 10.3390/v12010095
PMID: 31947696

13 p, 569.8 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles