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FluCAN 2009: initial results from sentinel surveillance for adult influenza and pneumonia in eight Australian hospitals
Author(s) -
Kelly Paul M,
Kotsimbos Tom,
Reynolds Anna,
WoodBaker Richard,
Hancox Bob,
Brown Simon G A,
Holmes Mark,
Simpson Graham,
Bowler Simon,
Waterer Grant,
Irving Louis B,
Jenkins Christine,
Thompson Phillip J,
Cheng Allen C
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03764.x
Subject(s) - medicine , interquartile range , pneumonia , pandemic , epidemiology , intensive care unit , emergency medicine , pediatrics , public health , covid-19 , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , nursing
Objective: To describe the epidemiology of adult patients hospitalised with influenza or pneumonia during a pandemic season in a sentinel network in Australia. Design, participants and setting: Prospective case series of adult hospital admissions to eight acute care general public hospitals (Influenza Complications Alert Network [Flu CAN] sentinel hospitals) in six Australian jurisdictions, 1 July to 4 December 2009. Main outcome measures: Demographic, clinical and outcome measures in patients admitted with laboratory‐confirmed pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in the sentinel hospitals compared with data from national notifications and intensive care unit (ICU) surveillance; admissions for influenza and pneumonia over time in each jurisdiction. Results: During 190 hospital‐weeks of observation, there were 538 influenza admissions. Of these, 465 patients (86.4%) had the pandemic strain, representing 9.3% of total admissions with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza ( n = 4992) recorded nationally in 2009. Of these patients, 250/465 (53.8%) were women, 67/453 (14.8%) were Indigenous, and the median age was 46 years (interquartile range, 29–58 years). Comorbidities were present in 354/464 patients (76.3%), and 40 were pregnant (30.3% of women aged 15–49 years). FluCAN reported that 102 patients (21.9%) were admitted to ICUs, and of patients admitted to hospital, 26 (5.6%) died. FluCAN results were very similar to national notification data and published ICU admissions data. Of those who were followed to 30 days after discharge, 30 (6.5%) were readmitted. Of 1468 patients hospitalised with pneumonia, 718 (48.9%) were tested for influenza and 163 (11.1%) were co‐infected with the pandemic strain. Conclusions: Sentinel surveillance systems can provide important and reliable information in a timely fashion and can monitor changes in severity of influenza during a pandemic season.