Excess mortality among the elderly in 12 European countries, February and March 2012

A Mazick; B Gergonne; J Nielsen; F Wuillaume; M J Virtanen; A Fouillet; H Uphoff; T Sideroglou; A Paldy; A Oza; B Nunes; V M Flores-Segovia; C Junker; S A McDonald; H K Green; R Pebody; K Mølbak

doi:10.2807/ese.17.14.20138-en

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Excess mortality among the elderly in 12 European countries, February and March 2012
A Mazick¹ , B Gergonne² , J Nielsen¹ , F Wuillaume³ , M J Virtanen⁴ , A Fouillet⁵ , H Uphoff⁶ , T Sideroglou⁷ , A Paldy⁸ , A Oza⁹ , B Nunes¹⁰ , V M Flores-Segovia¹¹ , C Junker¹² , S A McDonald¹³ , H K Green¹⁴ , R Pebody¹⁴ , K Mølbak¹
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Affiliations: ¹ Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark ² The National Board of Health and Welfare, Stockholm, Sweden ³ Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium ⁴ National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland ⁵ French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Saint-Maurice, France ⁶ Hesse State Health Office, Dillenburg, Germany ⁷ Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece ⁸ Hungary National Institute of Environmental Health, Budapest, Hungary ⁹ Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Dublin, Ireland ¹⁰ Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal ¹¹ Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain ¹² Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel, Switzerland ¹³ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands ¹⁴ Health Protection Agency, Colindale, United Kingdom

Correspondence:
A Mazick
maz ssi.dk
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Citation style for this article: Mazick A, Gergonne B, Nielsen J, Wuillaume F, Virtanen M J, Fouillet A, Uphoff H, Sideroglou T, Paldy A, Oza A, Nunes B, Flores-Segovia V M, Junker C, McDonald S A, Green H K, Pebody R, Mølbak K. Excess mortality among the elderly in 12 European countries, February and March 2012. Euro Surveill. 2012;17(14):pii=20138. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.17.14.20138-en Received: 31 Mar 2012

Abstract

In February and March 2012, excess deaths among the elderly have been observed in 12 European countries that carry out weekly monitoring of all-cause mortality. These preliminary data indicate that the impact of influenza in Europe differs from the recent pandemic and post-pandemic seasons. The current excess mortality among the elderly may be related to the return of influenza A(H3N2) virus, potentially with added effects of a cold snap.