Beyond the influenza-like illness surveillance: The need for real-time virological data (Euro Surveill., extract, edited)


[Source: Eurosurveillance, full text: <cite cite="http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19756">Eurosurveillance - View Article</cite>. Extract, edited.]

Eurosurveillance, Volume 16, Issue 1, 06 January 2011

Letters

Beyond the influenza-like illness surveillance: The need for real-time virological data

J S Casalegno 1, E Frobert 1, V Escuret 1, M Bouscambert-Duchamp 1, G Billaud 1, Y Mekki 1, I Schuffenecker 1, B Lina 1, F Morfin 1, M Valette 1

1. Hospices Civils de Lyon, National Influenza Centre, Laboratory of Virology, Lyon, France

Citation style for this article: Casalegno JS, Frobert E, Escuret V, Bouscambert-Duchamp M, Billaud G, Mekki Y, Schuffenecker I, Lina B, Morfin F, Valette M. Beyond the influenza-like illness surveillance: The need for real-time virological data. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(1):pii=19756. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=19756

Date of submission: 17 December 2010


To the editor:

We read with great interest your special issue on the Experiences with the pandemic in Europe (Vol. 15, issue 49, 9 December 2010). The reports in that issue clearly highlight the importance of surveillance and monitoring of both emergence and spread of influenza outbreaks through syndromic and laboratory surveillance networks [1]. We would however like to highlight that, in medical practice, it is hardly possible to determine the aetiology of viral respiratory infections by using only clinical symptoms as a basis for diagnosis. For example the correlation between the influenza and influenza-like illnesses (ILI) presentation and the diagnosis of influenza may vary considerably depending on the definition of ILI, the accuracy of the clinician, the epidemiological context, and the presence of co-circulating confounding respiratory viruses. Collecting virological data is mandatory for such networks.

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