Influenza Other Respir Viruses . The national burden of influenza-like illness and severe respiratory illness overall and associated with nine respiratory viruses in South Africa, 2013-2015

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Influenza Other Respir Viruses


. 2022 Feb 11.
doi: 10.1111/irv.12949. Online ahead of print.
The national burden of influenza-like illness and severe respiratory illness overall and associated with nine respiratory viruses in South Africa, 2013-2015


Stefano Tempia ^{1 2 3 4 5} , Jocelyn Moyes ^{3 5} , Adam L Cohen ^{1 6} , Sibongile Walaza ^{3 5} , Meredith L McMorrow ^{1 2} , Florette K Treurnicht ^{3 7} , Orienka Hellferscee ^{3 8} , Nicole Wolter ^{3 8} , Anne von Gottberg ^{3 8} , Halima Dawood ^{9 10} , Ebrahim Variava ^{11 12 13} , Cheryl Cohen ^{3 5}



Affiliations

• PMID: 35150059
• DOI: 10.1111/irv.12949

Free article

Abstract

Background: Estimates of the disease burden associated with different respiratory viruses are severely limited in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Africa.
Methods: We estimated age-specific numbers and rates of medically and non-medically attended influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe respiratory illness (SRI) that were associated with influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, adenovirus, enterovirus and parainfluenza virus types 1-3 after adjusting for the attributable fraction (AF) of virus detection to illness in South Africa during 2013-2015. The base rates were estimated from five surveillance sites and extrapolated nationally.
Results: The mean annual rates per 100,000 population were 51,383 and 4196 for ILI and SRI, respectively. Of these, 26% (for ILI) and 46% (for SRI) were medically attended. Among outpatients with ILI, rhinovirus had the highest AF-adjusted rate (7221), followed by influenza (6443) and adenovirus (1364); whereas, among inpatients with SRI, rhinovirus had the highest AF-adjusted rate (400), followed by RSV (247) and influenza (130). Rhinovirus (9424) and RSV (2026) had the highest AF-adjusted rates among children aged <5 years with ILI or SRI, respectively, whereas rhinovirus (757) and influenza (306) had the highest AF-adjusted rates among individuals aged ≥65 years with ILI or SRI, respectively.
Conclusions: There was a substantial burden of ILI and SRI in South Africa during 2013-2015. Rhinovirus and influenza had a prominent disease burden among patients with ILI. RSV and influenza were the most prominent causes of SRI in children and the elderly, respectively.

Keywords: South Africa; burden; respiratory viruses.