Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: Eurosurveillance, full text: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
A Nicoll (
)<SUP>1</SUP>, B C Ciancio<SUP>1</SUP>, V Lopez Chavarrias<SUP>1</SUP>, K M?lbak<SUP>2</SUP>, R Pebody<SUP>3</SUP>, B Pedzinski<SUP>4</SUP>, P Penttinen<SUP>1</SUP>, M van der Sande<SUP>5</SUP><SUP>,6</SUP>, R Snacken<SUP>1</SUP>, M D Van Kerkhove<SUP>7</SUP>
Citation style for this article: Nicoll A, Ciancio BC, Lopez Chavarrias V, M?lbak K, Pebody R, Pedzinski B, Penttinen P, van der Sande M, Snacken R, Van Kerkhove MD. Influenza-related deaths - available methods for estimating numbers and detecting patterns for seasonal and pandemic influenza in Europe . Euro Surveill. 2012;17(18)
ii=20162. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20162
Date of submission: 26 July 2011 <HR>Two methodologies are used for describing and estimating influenza-related mortality: Individual-based methods, which use death certification and laboratory diagnosis and predominately determine patterns and risk factors for mortality, and population-based methods, which use statistical and modelling techniques to estimate numbers of premature deaths. The total numbers of deaths generated from the two methods cannot be compared. The former are prone to underestimation, especially when identifying influenza-related deaths in older people. The latter are cruder and have to allow for confounding factors, notably other seasonal infections and climate effects. There is no routine system estimating overall European influenza-related premature mortality, apart from a pilot system EuroMOMO. It is not possible at present to estimate the overall influenza mortality due to the 2009 influenza pandemic in Europe, and the totals based on individual deaths are a minimum estimate. However, the pattern of mortality differed considerably between the 2009 pandemic in Europe and the interpandemic period 1970 to 2008, with pandemic deaths in 2009 occurring in younger and healthier persons. Common methods should be agreed to estimate influenza-related mortality at national level in Europe, and individual surveillance should be instituted for influenza-related deaths in key groups such as pregnant women and children.
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Eurosurveillance, Volume 17, Issue 18, 03 May 2012
Review articles
Influenza-related deaths - available methods for estimating numbers and detecting patterns for seasonal and pandemic influenza in Europe
Review articles
Influenza-related deaths - available methods for estimating numbers and detecting patterns for seasonal and pandemic influenza in Europe
A Nicoll (
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden
- Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Health Protection Agency, Colindale, United Kingdom
- Medical University of Białystok, Department of Public Health, Białystok, Poland
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
- Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Medical Research Council Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Citation style for this article: Nicoll A, Ciancio BC, Lopez Chavarrias V, M?lbak K, Pebody R, Pedzinski B, Penttinen P, van der Sande M, Snacken R, Van Kerkhove MD. Influenza-related deaths - available methods for estimating numbers and detecting patterns for seasonal and pandemic influenza in Europe . Euro Surveill. 2012;17(18)
ii=20162. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20162 Date of submission: 26 July 2011 <HR>Two methodologies are used for describing and estimating influenza-related mortality: Individual-based methods, which use death certification and laboratory diagnosis and predominately determine patterns and risk factors for mortality, and population-based methods, which use statistical and modelling techniques to estimate numbers of premature deaths. The total numbers of deaths generated from the two methods cannot be compared. The former are prone to underestimation, especially when identifying influenza-related deaths in older people. The latter are cruder and have to allow for confounding factors, notably other seasonal infections and climate effects. There is no routine system estimating overall European influenza-related premature mortality, apart from a pilot system EuroMOMO. It is not possible at present to estimate the overall influenza mortality due to the 2009 influenza pandemic in Europe, and the totals based on individual deaths are a minimum estimate. However, the pattern of mortality differed considerably between the 2009 pandemic in Europe and the interpandemic period 1970 to 2008, with pandemic deaths in 2009 occurring in younger and healthier persons. Common methods should be agreed to estimate influenza-related mortality at national level in Europe, and individual surveillance should be instituted for influenza-related deaths in key groups such as pregnant women and children.