Chou Yu-Ching, Lin Fu-Huang, Hsieh Chi-Jeng, Yu Chia-Peng
School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, 114201, Taiwan.
Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia Eastern University of Science and Technology, New Taipei City, 220303, Taiwan.
J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2025 Feb 5;15(1):16. doi: 10.1007/s44197-025-00366-1.
Acute influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) are primarily caused by influenza type A or type B viruses. Several factors influence the risk of the spread of ILIs. The present study investigated the epidemiological characteristics, differences, and epidemiological trends of influenza viruses, noninfluenza respiratory pathogens, and locations where clusters occurred in Taiwan between 2011 and 2020. The study analyzed publicly available data on 1,545 confirmed ILI clusters, with the data obtained from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control. In total, 1,334 ILI clusters were caused by influenza virus infection, 11 ILI clusters were caused by noninfluenza respiratory pathogens, and 78 ILI clusters were caused by pathogens not detected in routine testing. Additionally, for 122 ILI clusters, no pathogen detection was initiated. Significant differences were observed (p < 0.001) in the number of ILI clusters between influenza and noninfluenza respiratory pathogens in 2011-2020. In addition, significant differences were observed (p < 0.001) in the number of ILI clusters between locations in 2011-2020. In terms of specific pathogens within ILI clusters, single infections with influenza A virus accounted for the highest number of cases (69.6%, 1076/1358, odds ratio: 1.740-2.957, p < 0.001-0.012), followed by adenovirus infections among noninfluenza respiratory pathogens (58.3%, 7/12). Schools had the highest number of ILI clusters (47.3%, 731/1545) among the investigated institutions (odds ratio: 1.438-1.556, p < 0.001-0.012). This study provides valuable insights into ILI cluster transmission patterns in Taiwan over a 10-year period and highlights the importance of long-term studies covering a wide geographic area as a means of understanding the implications of such patterns.
急性流感样疾病（ILI）主要由甲型或乙型流感病毒引起。多种因素影响ILI传播风险。本研究调查了2011年至2020年台湾地区流感病毒、非流感呼吸道病原体以及聚集性发病地点的流行病学特征、差异和流行病学趋势。该研究分析了从台湾疾病控制中心获得的1545个确诊ILI聚集性发病的公开数据。其中，1334个ILI聚集性发病由流感病毒感染引起，11个由非流感呼吸道病原体引起，78个由常规检测未检出的病原体引起。此外，122个ILI聚集性发病未进行病原体检测。2011 - 2020年期间，流感与非流感呼吸道病原体引起的ILI聚集性发病数量存在显著差异（p < 0.001）。此外，2011 - 2020年不同地点的ILI聚集性发病数量也存在显著差异（p < 0.001）。就ILI聚集性发病中的特定病原体而言，甲型流感病毒单一感染病例数最多（69.6%，1076/1358，优势比：1.740 - 2.957，p < 0.001 - 0.012），其次是非流感呼吸道病原体中的腺病毒感染（58.3%，7/12）。在所调查的机构中，学校的ILI聚集性发病数量最多（47.3%，731/1545）（优势比：1.438 - 1.556，p < 0.001 - 0.012）。本研究为台湾地区10年间ILI聚集性发病传播模式提供了有价值的见解，并强调了开展覆盖广泛地理区域的长期研究对于理解此类模式影响的重要性。
