- Eeva Broberg1, Olav Hungnes2, Brunhilde Schweiger3, Katarina Prosenc4, Rod Daniels5, Raquel Guiomar6, Niina Ikonen7, Athanasios Kossyvakis8, Francisco Pozo9, Simona Puzelli10, Isabelle Thomas11, Allison Waters12, Åsa Wiman13, Adam Meijer14
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden 2 Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway 3 National Influenza Reference Centre, Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany 4 Laboratory for Public Health Virology, National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia 5 Crick Worldwide Influenza Centre, The Francis Crick Institute, Mill Hill Laboratory, London, United Kingdom 6 National Influenza Reference Laboratory, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal 7 Viral Infections Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland 8 National Influenza Reference Laboratory of Southern Greece, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece 9 Respiratory Viruses and Influenza Unit, National Center of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain 10 National Influenza Centre, Instituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy 11 National Influenza Reference Centre, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium 12 National Virus Reference Laboratory, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland 13 Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden 14 National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the NetherlandsEeva Brobergeeva.broberg ecdc.europa.eu
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Citation style for this article: Broberg Eeva, Hungnes Olav, Schweiger Brunhilde, Prosenc Katarina, Daniels Rod, Guiomar Raquel, Ikonen Niina, Kossyvakis Athanasios, Pozo Francisco, Puzelli Simona, Thomas Isabelle, Waters Allison, Wiman Åsa, Meijer Adam. Improving influenza virological surveillance in Europe: strain-based reporting of antigenic and genetic characterisation data, 11 European countries, influenza season 2013/14. Euro Surveill. 2016;21(41):pii=30370. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.41.30370 Received: 25 Feb 2016; Accepted: 25 Apr 2016
Improving influenza virological surveillance in Europe: strain-based reporting of antigenic and genetic characterisation data, 11 European countries, influenza season 2013/14
Abstract
Influenza antigenic and genetic characterisation data are crucial for influenza vaccine composition decision making. Previously, aggregate data were reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control by European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. A system for collecting case-specific influenza antigenic and genetic characterisation data was established for the 2013/14 influenza season. In a pilot study, 11 EU/EEA countries reported through the new mechanism. We demonstrated feasibility of reporting strain-based antigenic and genetic data and ca 10% of influenza virus-positive specimens were selected for further characterisation. Proportions of characterised virus (sub)types were similar to influenza virus circulation levels. The main genetic clades were represented by A/StPetersburg/27/2011(H1N1)pdm09 and A/Texas/50/2012(H3N2). A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses were more prevalent in age groups (by years) < 1 (65%; p = 0.0111), 20–39 (50%; p = 0.0046) and 40–64 (55%; p = 0.00001) while A(H3N2) viruses were most prevalent in those ≥ 65 years (62%*; p = 0.0012). Hospitalised patients in the age groups 6–19 years (67%; p = 0.0494) and ≥ 65 years (52%; p = 0.0005) were more frequently infected by A/Texas/50/2012 A(H3N2)-like viruses compared with hospitalised cases in other age groups. Strain-based reporting enabled deeper understanding of influenza virus circulation among hospitalised patients and substantially improved the reporting of virus characterisation data. Therefore, strain-based reporting of readily available data is recommended to all reporting countries within the EU/EEA.

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