Abstract
Influenza surveillance in African countries was initially restricted to the identification of circulating strains. In Senegal, the network has recently been enhanced (i) to include epidemiological data from Dakar and other regions and (ii) to extend virological surveillance to other respiratory viruses. Epidemiological data from the sentinel sites is transmitted daily by mobile phone. The data include those for other febrile syndromes similar to influenza-like illnesses (ILI), corresponding to integrated approach. Also, clinical samples are randomly selected and analyzed for influenza and other respiratory viruses. There were 101,640 declared visits to the 11 sentinel sites between week 11-2012 and week 35-2013; 22% of the visits were for fever syndromes and 23% of the cases of fever syndrome were ILI. Influenza viruses were the second most frequent cause of ILI (20%), after adenoviruses (21%) and before rhinoviruses (18%) and enteroviruses (15%). Co-circulation and co-infection were frequent and were responsible for ILI peaks. The first months of implementation of the enhanced surveillance system confirmed that viruses other the influenza make large contributions to influenza-like illnesses. It is therefore important to consider these etiologies in the development of strategies to reduce respiratory infections. More informative tools and research studies are required to assess the burden of respiratory infections in developing countries.
Highlights
The International Health Regulations of 2005 advocate enhanced surveillance of events that may constitute a ‘‘public health emergency of international concern’’
In Senegal, the National Influenza Center located in the Pasteur Institute of Dakar (IPD) was established in 1974 and has been part of the Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1996 [2]
The WHO GISN has documented the circulation of influenza viruses in some African countries [5,6], the available data is insufficient for public health decisions to be made
Summary
The International Health Regulations of 2005 advocate enhanced surveillance of events that may constitute a ‘‘public health emergency of international concern’’. In Senegal, the National Influenza Center located in the Pasteur Institute of Dakar (IPD) was established in 1974 and has been part of the Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1996 [2]. Until 2011, the major aim of the Senegalese influenza surveillance had traditionally been to identify the predominant circulating strains in the community, and in Dakar [2]. The WHO GISN has documented the circulation of influenza viruses in some African countries [5,6], the available data is insufficient for public health decisions to be made [5]. Surveillance is required for non-specific indicators, such as visits to health-care centers for influenza-like illness or hospitalization for pneumonia, to provide an indication of the total disease burden.
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