1. Influenza viruses circulation in a tertiary care children hospital in Rome: a comparison between 2022 and the previous 5 years.
- Author
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Ranno S, Coltella L, Linardos G, Di Maio VC, Colagrossi L, Gentile L, Galeno E, Ciofi Degli Atti ML, Cristaldi S, Villani A, Raponi M, Perno CF, and Russo C
- Subjects
- Humans, Child, Child, Preschool, Retrospective Studies, Rome epidemiology, Tertiary Healthcare, SARS-CoV-2, Hospitals, Pediatric, Influenza, Human epidemiology, COVID-19, Orthomyxoviridae
- Abstract
Background: Influenza surveillance aims to determine onset, duration and intensity of the seasonal Influence-like Illness (ILI); data collection begins in the week 42 of a year and ends in the week 17 of the following year. In this observational study, we report the experience of a tertiary care children hospital in Rome about Influenza viruses circulation during the calendar year 2022 (January-December) in comparison with the previous five years (2017-2021), with a special focus on the weeks 18-41, usually not under surveillance., Methods: This retrospective study involved 36782 respiratory samples referred to 21354 patients (pts), median age 2.63 years, admitted with respiratory symptoms at Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in the years 2017-2022. Respiratory viruses were detected by molecular Allplex™ Respiratory Panel Assays (Seegene, Korea)., Results: Regarding the pre pandemic years, 2017-2019, distribution of Flu positive patients focused in the first weeks of the year (weeks 1-17). During the pandemic period, Flu was not detected. In 2022, 239 Flu viruses were identified: 37 FluA (weeks 1-17), 29 FluA (weeks 18-41) and 168 FluA and 5 FluB (weeks 42-52). For the year 2022, during the non-epidemic period, the number of Flu viruses detected corresponded to 12.1% of total Flu detected, respect to 0-1.7% for the previous five years (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: When compared with pre SARS-CoV-2 pandemic years, our data show a significant increase in Influenza cases during weeks 18-41/2022 and reveal an unexpected summer circulation of these viruses: just weeks 26-30 showed to be influenza virus free. A national year-round Flu surveillance could be useful to understand if changing in influenza epidemiology is transitional or likely to persist in the following years., (© 2023. Società Italiana di Pediatria.)
- Published
- 2023
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