Epidemiological aspects of influenza A related to climatic conditions during and after a pandemic period in the city of Salvador, northeastern Brazil

Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-12T13:57:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1914 bytes, checksum: 7d48279ffeed55da8dfe2f8e81f3b81f (MD5) marilda_siqueiraetal_IOC_2014.pdf: 584526 bytes, checksum: 73786a4075afec1fddd39db2a23a8a06 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014Complexo Hospitalar Professor Edgard Santos. Laboratório de Pesquisa em Infectologia. BA, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Virus Respiratório e Sarampo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Complexo Hospitalar Professor Edgard Santos. Laboratório de Pesquisa em Infectologia. BA, Brasil.Complexo Hospitalar Professor Edgard Santos. Laboratório de Pesquisa em Infectologia. BA, Brasil.Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia. Departamento de Pediatria. Salvador, BA, Brasil.Universidade Federal da Bahia. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde. Salvador, BA, Brasil. .Universidade Federal da Bahia. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde. Salvador, BA, Brasil. .Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Virus Respiratório e Sarampo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Complexo Hospitalar Professor Edgard Santos. Laboratório de Pesquisa em Infectologia. BA, Brasil.During the influenza pandemic of 2009, the A(H1N1)pdm09, A/H3N2 seasonal and influenza B viruses were observed to be co-circulating with other respiratory viruses. To observe the epidemiological pattern of the influenza virus between May 2009-August 2011, 467 nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children less than five years of age in the city of Salvador. In addition, data on weather conditions were obtained. Indirect immunofluorescence, real-time transcription reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and sequencing assays were performed for influenza virus detection. Of all 467 samples, 34 (7%) specimens were positive for influenza A and of these, viral characterisation identified Flu A/H3N2 in 25/34 (74%) and A(H1N1)pdm09 in 9/34 (26%). Influenza B accounted for a small proportion (0.8%) and the other respiratory viruses for 27.2% (127/467). No deaths were registered and no pattern of seasonality or expected climatic conditions could be established. These observations are important for predicting the evolution of epidemics and in implementing future anti-pandemic measures