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. 2020 Aug 18;42(3):525-533.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdz053.

Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Cases at a sentinel site in Egypt, 2013-15

Mohamed M Elhakim  1 , Sahar K Kandil  1 , Khaled M Abd Elaziz  1 , Wagida A Anwar  1
Affiliations

Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Cases at a sentinel site in Egypt, 2013-15

Mohamed M Elhakim et al. J Public Health (Oxf). .

Abstract

Background: Sentinel surveillance for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in Egypt began in 2006 and occurs at eight sites. Avian influenza is endemic, and human cases of influenza A (H5N1) have been reported annually since 2006. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of SARI at a major sentinel site in the country.

Methods: Data included in the study were collected from a major SARI sentinel site in Egypt during three consecutive years (2013-15).

Results: A total of 1254 SARI patients conforming to the WHO case definition were admitted to the sentinel site, representing 5.6% of admitted patients for all causes and 36.6% of acute respiratory infection patients. A total of 99.7% of the patients were tested, and 21.04% tested positive; 48.7% of cases involved influenza A viruses, while 25% involved influenza B. The predominant age group was under 5 years of age, accounting for 443 cases. The seasonality of the influenza data conformed to the Northern Hemisphere pattern.

Conclusions: The present study's results show that SARI leads to substantial morbidity in Egypt. There is a great need for high-quality data from the SARI surveillance system in Egypt, especially with endemic respiratory threats such as influenza A (H5N1) in Egypt.

Keywords: Egypt; influenza; sentinel surveillance; severe acute respiratory infection.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) positive cases by subtype, from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Line graph presenting data from complete influenza seasons (2013/2014 and 2014/2015) and incomplete influenza seasons (2012/2013 and 2015/2016) with epidemic thresholds by MEM method—data from 2013 to 2015, sentinel site in Egypt.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The moving epidemic graph, showing all influenza seasons centered around their epidemic periods.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Stacked bar chart showing associated symptoms in SARI patients admitted to the study sentinel site. 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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