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National focal points for epidemiological and virological surveillance in the WHO European Region, reference laboratory representatives and involved international institutions met in Vienna, Austria, 11?13 June 2014 for the 4th Joint WHO/Europe and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Annual european influenza surveillance meeting.
The highlight of the meeting was the announcement of a new joint publication that will replace the EuroFlu bulletin and the ECDC Weekly Influenza Surveillance Overview (WISO) starting in the upcoming 2014?2015 influenza season, as a result of the close collaboration between WHO/Europe and ECDC. The benefits of this collaboration were emphasized in opening remarks delivered by Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director of Public Health of the Federal Ministry of Health, Austria. She underlined the importance of cooperation in light of the unpredictability of a new pandemic at a time when resources are diminishing.
Dr Caroline Brown, Programme Manager for Influenza and other Respiratory Pathogens said: ?These meetings are enormously important and help us move towards more efficient modes of working with all our partners. By identifying gaps and challenges in surveillance capacity as well in national programmes for seasonal influenza vaccination, we can begin to find solutions, which brings us one step closer to reducing the number of people suffering from severe influenza each year.?
How many people get flu every year?
Understanding the burden of disease caused by influenza is essential to help countries to plan effectively. Deepening our understanding of burden including mortality and severe disease, as well as the cost of influenza to health care services, also helps Member States to make the case for investments in vaccination programmes.
Sessions at the meeting highlighted the need to better understand and estimate this burden, and included discussions on topics ranging from how best to monitor for severe disease in hospitals to the use of alternative systems such as Influenzanet. It is estimated that globally about 100 000 to 400 000 people died of respiratory disease from influenza A(H1N1)pdm during the first year of the pandemic in 2009. However, global and regional estimates for seasonal influenza are lacking. To estimate seasonal influenza mortality in a comprehensive and timely manner, Member States are working on national estimates for influenza mortality as part of a European Commission project called European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action (EuroMOMO). To address these questions at national, regional and global level, gaps in human resources and electronic systems will need to be filled.
Maintaining and improving the virological surveillance of influenza
Virologists working within the network of national influenza centres (NICs) in the WHO European Region discussed ways to improve the sharing of influenza viruses with WHO collaborating centres for reference and research on influenza. Timely sharing of influenza viruses is needed to aid the early detection of novel influenza viruses and to inform seasonal influenza vaccine strain selection.
Suggestions to improve the representativeness of the viruses shared included enhancing the NICs? utilization of the WHO Shipping Fund Project and provision by WHO CCs early in the influenza season of detailed information on circulating viruses. To maintain the surveillance capacities of NICs, WHO and ECDC should continue to provide training and quality assessment programmes.
EuroFlu Bulletin
EuroMoMo
Influenzanet
WHO Shipping and logistic activities
Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System GISRS
WHO External Quality Assessment Project for the detection of influenza virus type A by PCR
External quality assessment scheme for influenza virus detection, isolation and culture for the European Reference Laboratory Network for Human Influenza, 2013
The highlight of the meeting was the announcement of a new joint publication that will replace the EuroFlu bulletin and the ECDC Weekly Influenza Surveillance Overview (WISO) starting in the upcoming 2014?2015 influenza season, as a result of the close collaboration between WHO/Europe and ECDC. The benefits of this collaboration were emphasized in opening remarks delivered by Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director of Public Health of the Federal Ministry of Health, Austria. She underlined the importance of cooperation in light of the unpredictability of a new pandemic at a time when resources are diminishing.
Dr Caroline Brown, Programme Manager for Influenza and other Respiratory Pathogens said: ?These meetings are enormously important and help us move towards more efficient modes of working with all our partners. By identifying gaps and challenges in surveillance capacity as well in national programmes for seasonal influenza vaccination, we can begin to find solutions, which brings us one step closer to reducing the number of people suffering from severe influenza each year.?
How many people get flu every year?
Understanding the burden of disease caused by influenza is essential to help countries to plan effectively. Deepening our understanding of burden including mortality and severe disease, as well as the cost of influenza to health care services, also helps Member States to make the case for investments in vaccination programmes.
Sessions at the meeting highlighted the need to better understand and estimate this burden, and included discussions on topics ranging from how best to monitor for severe disease in hospitals to the use of alternative systems such as Influenzanet. It is estimated that globally about 100 000 to 400 000 people died of respiratory disease from influenza A(H1N1)pdm during the first year of the pandemic in 2009. However, global and regional estimates for seasonal influenza are lacking. To estimate seasonal influenza mortality in a comprehensive and timely manner, Member States are working on national estimates for influenza mortality as part of a European Commission project called European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action (EuroMOMO). To address these questions at national, regional and global level, gaps in human resources and electronic systems will need to be filled.
Maintaining and improving the virological surveillance of influenza
Virologists working within the network of national influenza centres (NICs) in the WHO European Region discussed ways to improve the sharing of influenza viruses with WHO collaborating centres for reference and research on influenza. Timely sharing of influenza viruses is needed to aid the early detection of novel influenza viruses and to inform seasonal influenza vaccine strain selection.
Suggestions to improve the representativeness of the viruses shared included enhancing the NICs? utilization of the WHO Shipping Fund Project and provision by WHO CCs early in the influenza season of detailed information on circulating viruses. To maintain the surveillance capacities of NICs, WHO and ECDC should continue to provide training and quality assessment programmes.
EuroFlu Bulletin
EuroMoMo
Influenzanet
WHO Shipping and logistic activities
Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System GISRS
WHO External Quality Assessment Project for the detection of influenza virus type A by PCR
External quality assessment scheme for influenza virus detection, isolation and culture for the European Reference Laboratory Network for Human Influenza, 2013
