What will the next influenza season bring about: seasonal influenza or the new A(H1N1)v? An analysis of German influenza surveillance data

H Uphoff; S Geis; A Grüber; A M Hauri

doi:10.2807/ese.14.32.19303-en

Rapid communications Open Access

Like 0

Download

What will the next influenza season bring about: seasonal influenza or the new A(H1N1)v? An analysis of German influenza surveillance data
H Uphoff¹ , S Geis^1,2 , A Grüber³ , A M Hauri¹
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ Hessisches Landesprüfungs- und Untersuchungsamt im Gesundheitswesen, Dillenburg, Germany ² Postgraduate Training in Applied Epidemiology (PAE), Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany ³ Deutsches Grünes Kreuz (German Green Cross), Marburg, Germany

Correspondence:
H Uphoff
Helmut.Uphoff hlpug.hessen.de
View Citation Hide Citation

Citation style for this article: Uphoff H, Geis S, Grüber A, Hauri A M. What will the next influenza season bring about: seasonal influenza or the new A(H1N1)v? An analysis of German influenza surveillance data. Euro Surveill. 2009;14(32):pii=19303. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.14.32.19303-en Received: 11 Aug 2009

Abstract

For the next influenza season (winter 2009-10) the relative contributions to virus circulation and influenza-associated morbidity of the seasonal influenza viruses A(H3N2), A(H1N1) and B, and the new influenza A(H1N1)v are still unknown. We estimated the chances of seasonal influenza to circulate during the upcoming season using data of the German influenza sentinel scheme from 1992 to 2009. We calculated type and subtype-specific indices for past exposure and the corresponding morbidity indices for each season. For the upcoming season 2009-10 our model suggests that it is unlikely that influenza A(H3N2) will circulate with more than a low intensity, seasonal A(H1N1) with more than a low to moderate intensity, and influenza B with more than a low to median intensity. The probability of a competitive circulation of seasonal influenza A with the new A(H1N1)v is low, increasing the chance for the latter to dominate the next influenza season in Germany.