Fahim Manal, Deghedy Ola, Alim Walaa, Kamel Reham, Hassan Hossam, Mohsen Amira, Attia Rania, Abou El Naja Hala, Afifi Salma, Tempia Stefano, Kandeel Amr
Preventive Sector, Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo, Egypt.
Egypt Country Office, World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt.
Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2024 Dec;18(12):e70061. doi: 10.1111/irv.70061.
Influenza burden (IB) estimates are crucial for monitoring disease trends, allocating limited resources, and promoting influenza vaccination. However, IB in Egypt is poorly understood. This study estimates the mean-seasonal IB in Egypt, across levels of severity by age and regions using sentinel surveillance data between 2016 and 2019.
Influenza surveillance was implemented among patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) at eight sentinel hospitals across Egypt. We estimated the influenza-associated SARI hospitalization in two governorates and then extrapolated nationally using the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended methods. Thereafter, we estimated IB-associated mild/moderate illness and deaths using IB pyramid tool developed by WHO and the John Hopkins Center for Health Security. Rates were reported per 100,000 population.
The estimated mean seasonal number of influenza-associated mild/moderate illness, hospitalized noncritically and critically ill patients, and deaths was 16,425,938 (95% CI: 1,150,888-40,409,614), 30,335 (95% CI: 9971-670,288), 9110 (95% CI: 580-16,321), and 2660 (95% CI: 154-9908), respectively. The highest rate of influenza-associated mild/moderate illness was among aged 5-14 year (22,932; 95% CI: 825-25,546.3), whereas the highest rates of severe influenza were among aged > 65 years (hospitalizations: 159.4, 95% CI: 121.7-205.0; deaths: 56.0, 95% CI: 0.6-111.0). Children aged < 5 years also experience high rates of influenza-associated hospitalization (52.0, 95% CI: 43.0-62.0).
The WHO method estimated a high burden of severe influenza among aged ≥ 65 and aged < 5 years in Egypt. To reduce severe IB, increased influenza vaccine uptake together with enhanced immunization strategies implementations among the elderly and children are warranted.
流感负担（IB）估计对于监测疾病趋势、分配有限资源以及推广流感疫苗接种至关重要。然而，埃及的流感负担情况尚不清楚。本研究利用2016年至2019年的哨点监测数据，按年龄和地区的严重程度水平估计了埃及的季节性平均流感负担。
在埃及八家哨点医院对因严重急性呼吸道感染（SARI）住院的患者开展流感监测。我们估计了两个省与流感相关的SARI住院情况，然后使用世界卫生组织（WHO）推荐的方法进行全国推算。此后，我们使用WHO和约翰·霍普金斯健康安全中心开发的流感负担金字塔工具估计与流感负担相关的轻度/中度疾病和死亡情况。发病率按每10万人报告。
估计与流感相关的轻度/中度疾病、非重症和重症住院患者以及死亡的季节性平均数量分别为16425938例（95%CI：1150888 - 40409614）、30335例（95%CI：9971 - 670288）、9110例（95%CI：580 - 16321）和2660例（95%CI：154 - 9908）。与流感相关的轻度/中度疾病发病率最高的是5 - 14岁年龄组（22932例；95%CI：825 - 25546.3），而严重流感发病率最高的是65岁以上年龄组（住院率：159.4，95%CI：121.7 - 205.0；死亡率：56.0，95%CI：0.6 - 111.0）。5岁以下儿童的流感相关住院率也很高（52.0，95%CI：43.0 - 62.0）。
WHO方法估计埃及65岁及以上和5岁以下年龄组的严重流感负担较高。为降低严重流感负担，有必要提高老年人和儿童的流感疫苗接种率，并加强免疫策略的实施。
