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Influenza Other Respir Viruses Ambulance Dispatch Calls Attributable to Influenza A and Other Common Respiratory Viruses in the Netherlands (2014-201

tetano

Editor, Senior Moderator
Influenza Other Respir Viruses


. 2020 May 14.
doi: 10.1111/irv.12731. Online ahead of print.
Ambulance Dispatch Calls Attributable to Influenza A and Other Common Respiratory Viruses in the Netherlands (2014-2016)


Susana Monge[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Janneke Duijster[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Geert Jan Kommer[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Jan van de Kassteele[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Thomas Krafft[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Paul Engelen[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Jens P Valk[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Jan de Waard[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Jan de Nooij[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Annelies Riezebos-Brilman[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Wim van der Hoek[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Liselotte van Asten[SUP] 1 [/SUP]



Affiliations
Free article

Abstract

Background: Ambulance dispatches could be useful for syndromic surveillance of severe respiratory infections. We evaluated whether ambulance dispatch calls of highest urgency reflect the circulation of influenza A virus, influenza B virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus, adenovirus, coronavirus, parainfluenzavirus and human metapneumovirus (hMPV).
Methods: We analysed calls from four ambulance call centres serving 25% of the population in the Netherlands (2014-2016). The chief symptom and urgency level is recorded during triage; we restricted our analysis to calls with the highest urgency and identified those compatible with a respiratory syndrome. We modelled the relation between respiratory syndrome calls (RSC) and respiratory virus trends using binomial regression with identity link function.
Results: We included 211 739 calls, of which 15 385 (7.3%) were RSC. Proportion of RSC showed periodicity with winter peaks and smaller interseasonal increases. Overall, 15% of RSC were attributable to respiratory viruses (20% in out-of-office hour calls). There was large variation by age group: in <15 years, only RSV was associated and explained 11% of RSC; in 15-64 years, only influenza A (explained 3% of RSC); and in ≥65 years adenovirus explained 9% of RSC, distributed throughout the year, and hMPV (4%) and influenza A (1%) mainly during the winter peaks. Additionally, rhinovirus was associated with total RSC.
Conclusion: High urgency ambulance dispatches reflect the burden of different respiratory viruses and might be useful to monitor the respiratory season overall. Influenza plays a smaller role than other viruses: RSV is important in children while adenovirus and hMPV are the biggest contributors to emergency calls in the elderly.

Keywords: adenovirus; ambulance; coronavirus; influenza; respiratory syncytial virus; rhinovirus.
 
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