Changes in the Epidemiological Features of Influenza After the COVID-19 Pandemic in China, the United States, and Australia: Updated Surveillance Data for Influenza Activity

Bibliographic Details
Title: Changes in the Epidemiological Features of Influenza After the COVID-19 Pandemic in China, the United States, and Australia: Updated Surveillance Data for Influenza Activity
Authors: Mingyue Jiang, Mengmeng Jia, Qing Wang, Yanxia Sun, Yunshao Xu, Peixi Dai, Weizhong Yang, Luzhao Feng
Source: Interactive Journal of Medical Research, Vol 13, p e47370 (2024)
Publisher Information: JMIR Publications, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
LCC:Medical technology
Subject Terms: Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics, R858-859.7, Medical technology, R855-855.5
More Details: BackgroundThere has been a global decrease in seasonal influenza activity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. ObjectiveWe aimed to describe influenza activity during the 2021/2022 season and compare it to the trends from 2012 to 2023. We also explored the influence of social and public health prevention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic on influenza activity. MethodsWe obtained influenza data from January 1, 2012, to February 5, 2023, from publicly available platforms for China, the United States, and Australia. Mitigation measures were evaluated per the stringency index, a composite index with 9 measures. A general additive model was used to assess the stringency index and the influenza positivity rate correlation, and the deviance explained was calculated. ResultsWe used over 200,000 influenza surveillance data. Influenza activity remained low in the United States and Australia during the 2021/2022 season. However, it increased in the United States with a positive rate of 26.2% in the 49th week of 2022. During the 2021/2022 season, influenza activity significantly increased compared with the previous year in southern and northern China, with peak positivity rates of 28.1% and 35.1% in the second week of 2022, respectively. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the dominant influenza virus genotype in China was type B/Victoria, during the 2021/2022 season, and accounted for >98% (24,541/24,908 in the South and 20,543/20,634 in the North) of all cases. Influenza virus type B/Yamagata was not detected in all these areas after the COVID-19 pandemic. Several measures individually significantly influence local influenza activity, except for influenza type B in Australia. When combined with all the measures, the deviance explained values for influenza A and B were 87.4% (P
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1929-073X
Relation: https://www.i-jmr.org/2024/1/e47370; https://doaj.org/toc/1929-073X
DOI: 10.2196/47370
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/eb03a42d52bc49c3b5d5ba1cf598e25a
Accession Number: edsdoj.b03a42d52bc49c3b5d5ba1cf598e25a
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:1929073X
DOI:10.2196/47370
Published in:Interactive Journal of Medical Research
Language:English