Abstract
Influenza burden estimates are essential to informing prevention and control policies. To complement recent influenza vaccine production capacity in Vietnam, we used acute respiratory infection (ARI) hospitalization data, severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance data, and provincial population data from 4 provinces representing Vietnam’s major regions during 2014–2016 to calculate provincial and national influenza-associated ARI and SARI hospitalization rates. We determined the proportion of ARI admissions meeting the World Health Organization SARI case definition through medical record review. The mean influenza-associated hospitalization rates per 100,000 population were 218 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 197–238) for ARI and 134 (95% UI 119–149) for SARI. Influenza-associated SARI hospitalization rates per 100,000 population were highest among children <5 years of age (1,123; 95% UI 946–1,301) and adults >65 years of age (207; 95% UI 186–227), underscoring the need for prevention and control measures, such as vaccination, in these at-risk populations.
Highlights
Influenza burden estimates are essential to informing prevention and control policies
We identified 8 hospitals with clear underreporting during electronic medical records (EMRs) implementation in 2014 and 2015 and imputed the expected number of acute respiratory infection (ARI) hospitalizations by using the 2016 percentage distribution of patient counts across hospitals, giving an overall estimated 4.1% underreporting of ARI hospitalizations and an adjusted total of 229,144 ARI hospitalizations included in analysis
We found in any year that 74% of influenza detections were identified during March–July, when Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccines typically are available
Summary
Influenza burden estimates are essential to informing prevention and control policies. To complement recent influenza vaccine production capacity in Vietnam, we used acute respiratory infection (ARI) hospitalization data, severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance data, and provincial population data from 4 provinces representing Vietnam’s major regions during 2014–2016 to calculate provincial and national influenza-associated ARI and SARI hospitalization rates. The mean influenza-associated hospitalization rates per 100,000 population were 218 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 197–238) for ARI and 134 (95% UI 119–149) for SARI. Influenza-associated SARI hospitalization rates per 100,000 population were highest among children 65 years of age (207; 95% UI 186–227), underscoring the need for prevention and control measures, such as vaccination, in these at-risk populations. To sustain Vietnam’s influenza prevention and control programs, information about the annual disease burden and value of averting costly hospitalizations is useful. Building on the established SARI sentinel surveillance, we conducted a hospital admission survey
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