Sentinel Influenza Surveillance
HSE, Health Protection Surveillance Centre
2000
1. To monitor morbidity related to influenza.
2. To determine when influenza viruses are circulating, to identify circulating strains and to detect changes in the viruses. With this information, it is possible to determine if the circulating strain matches the strain in the seasonal influenza vaccine.
3. To determine which age and risk groups are most affected during the influenza season so that targeted public health interventions can be implemented.
Sixty-one sentinel GP practices representing 5.6% of the national population.
It is a collaborative sentinel surveillance project involving the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) and the Departments of Public Health (HSE areas). Reports on the number of patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) as per the EU case definition on a weekly basis. Sentinel GPs send a combined nasal and throat swab to the NVRL, on at least five patients per week where a clinical diagnosis of ILI is made during the influenza season.
Patient demographics including: date of birth; gender and diagnosis. Epidemiological data including: vaccination status, risk group status, antiviral usage and laboratory test results.
Sixty one sentinel general practices. The ICGP and the NVRL.
Participating sentinel GPs email clinical returns to the ICGP coordinator each week and it is then collated in an Excel file which is emailed to HPSC. Virological data are received by HPSC in an Excel File from NVRL each week. At HPSC, clinical and virological data are validated and imported into a Microsoft Access database and then analysed.
Not available
Definitions of ILI and influenza as per the EU case definition. No coding is used.
Clinical ILI cases reported from ICGP; between 1000–3000 records created on average annually.
Confirmed influenza cases reported from NVRL; between 8000–12,000 records created on average annually.
Weekly and annual reports, available on HPSC website.
Data requests can be submitted via hpsc@hse.ie and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
No