Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020 and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Globally, there have been 239,437,517 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to WHO, including 4,879,235 (2.1%) deaths as of October 15, 2021 (1). The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause an unparalleled impact on global public health security and economic well-being in the context of previous influenza pandemics as well as other emerging infectious diseases in history (2). As the epidemiology, clinical presentations, and control measures for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza share many features, there is a need to develop strategies to address additional challenges arising in the continued surveillance, prevention, and clinical management of influenza in conjunction with COVID-19 pandemic responses. SARS-CoV-2 and influenza are expected to be circulating during the upcoming influenza season and may lead to situation where an amplified respiratory disease burden occurs due to both viruses spreading, causing overlapping symptoms or severe clinical illness particularly in the case of co-infections (3). Therefore, it is essential that effective public health control measures are in place for the forthcoming influenza season to protect those at risk (e.g., the elderly and patients with underlying chronic diseases), prevent severe illness, and minimize additional impact on the healthcare system and a surge in hospital admissions.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020 and a pandemic on March 11, 2020
Clinical presentations, and control measures for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza share many features, there is a need to develop strategies to address additional challenges arising in the continued surveillance, prevention, and clinical management of influenza in conjunction with COVID-19 pandemic responses
It is essential that effective public health control measures are in place for the forthcoming influenza season to protect those at risk, prevent severe illness, and minimize additional impact on the healthcare system and a surge in hospital admissions
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020 and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Clinical presentations, and control measures for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza share many features, there is a need to develop strategies to address additional challenges arising in the continued surveillance, prevention, and clinical management of influenza in conjunction with COVID-19 pandemic responses. SARS-CoV-2 and influenza are expected to be circulating during the upcoming influenza season and may lead to situation where an amplified respiratory disease burden occurs due to both viruses spreading, causing overlapping symptoms or severe clinical illness in the case of co-infections [3]. The estimated R0 of the initial strain of SARS-CoV-2 was reported to be 2.79 [5], which explained the enhanced transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as observed during the early phase of the pandemic as compared to the transmission of seasonal influenza. This phenomenon is further demonstrated using data collected on influenza surveillance in Hong
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