Nonannual seasonality of influenza-like illness in a tropical urban setting.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In temperate and subtropical climates, respiratory diseases exhibit seasonal peaks in winter. In the tropics, with no winter, peak timings are irregular.

Methods

To obtain a detailed picture of influenza-like illness (ILI) patterns in the tropics, we established an mHealth study in community clinics in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). During 2009-2015, clinics reported daily case numbers via SMS, with a subset performing molecular diagnostics for influenza virus. This real-time epidemiology network absorbs 6000 ILI reports annually, one or two orders of magnitude more than typical surveillance systems. A real-time online ILI indicator was developed to inform clinicians of the daily ILI activity in HCMC.

Results

From August 2009 to December 2015, 63 clinics were enr

SUBMITTER: Lam HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6185894 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature