Abstract
The disease caused by the influenza virus is a global public health problem due to its high rates of morbidity and mortality. Thus, analysis of the information generated by epidemiological surveillance systems has vital importance for health decision making. A retrospective analysis was performed using data generated by the four molecular diagnostic laboratories of the Mexican Social Security Institute between 2010 and 2016. Demographics, influenza positivity, seasonality, treatment choices and vaccination status analyses were performed for the vaccine according to its composition for each season. In all cases, both the different influenza subtypes and different age groups were considered separately. The circulation of A/H1N1pdm09 (48.7%), influenza A/H3N2 (21.1%), influenza B (12.6%), influenza A not subtyped (11%) and influenza A/H1N1 (6.6%) exhibited well-defined annual seasonality between November and March, and there were significant increases in the number of cases every 2 years. An inadequate use of oseltamivir was determined in 38% of cases, and the vaccination status in general varied between 12.1 and 18.5% depending on the season. Our results provide current information about influenza in Mexico and demonstrate the need to update both operational case definitions and medical practice guidelines to reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics and antivirals.
Highlights
Influenza infections are a public health problem worldwide due to their high morbidity and mortality
According to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), influenza viruses belong to the Orthomyxoviridae family and include four genera: Alphainfluenzavirus, Betainfluenzavirus, Gammainfluenzavirus and Deltainfluenzavirus [4]
Influenza viruses are named according to their two major membrane proteins: haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), which are responsible for their antigenic characteristics
Summary
Influenza infections are a public health problem worldwide due to their high morbidity and mortality. The economic impact of this disease is high for both infected persons and public health institutions due to visits to doctors and days of hospital stay when the condition is serious [2, 3]. Influenza viruses are named according to their two major membrane proteins: haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), which are responsible for their antigenic characteristics. Influenza A virus is the most important due to its high pandemic potential (higher mutation and transmission rates and capacity to spread from person to person and even from animals to humans) [5, 6]. When different viruses co-infect the same host cell there may be an exchange of segments, called antigenic shift, which establishes a high probability of creating viral strains capable of causing potential
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