An Under-Recognized Influenza Epidemic Identified by Rapid Influenza Testing, Southern Sri Lanka, 2013.
An Under-Recognized Influenza Epidemic Identified by Rapid Influenza Testing, Southern Sri Lanka, 2013.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Mar 2;
Authors: Tillekeratne LG, Bodinayake CK, Nagahawatte A, Vidanagama D, Devasiri V, Arachchi WK, Kurukulasooriya R, De Silva AD, Østybe T, Reller ME, Woods CW
Abstract
Influenza accounts for a large burden of acute respiratory tract infections in high-income countries; data from lower-income settings are limited due to lack of confirmatory testing. Consecutive outpatients presenting to the largest tertiary care hospital in southern Sri Lanka were surveyed for influenza-like illness (ILI), defined as acute onset of fever ≥ 38.0°C and cough. Patients were administered a questionnaire and nasal/nasopharyngeal sampling for rapid influenza A/B testing. We enrolled 311 patients with ILI from March to November 2013: 170 (54.7%) children and 172 (55.3%) males. Approximately half (147, 47.3%) tested positive for influenza, but 253 (81.4%) were prescribed antibiotics. On bivariable analysis, symptoms associated with influenza included pain with breathing (P < 0.001), headache (P = 0.005), fatigue (P = 0.003), arthralgias (P = 0.003), and myalgias (P = 0.006) in children and pain with breathing (P = 0.01), vomiting (P = 0.03), and arthralgias (P = 0.03) in adults. Our final clinical predictive models had low sensitivity and fair specificity-50.0% (95% CI: 38.6-61.4%) and 83.2% (95% CI: 73.4-90.0%), respecti...
Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Tillekeratne LG, Bodinayake CK, Nagahawatte A, Vidanagama D, Devasiri V, Arachchi WK, Kurukulasooriya R, De Silva AD, Østybe T, Reller ME, Woods CW Tags: Am J Trop Med Hyg Source Type: research
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