Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov;25(46):2001822.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.46.2001822.

Virological surveillance of influenza viruses in the WHO European Region in 2019/20 - impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Angeliki Melidou  1 , Dmitriy Pereyaslov  2 , Olav Hungnes  3 , Katarina Prosenc  4 , Erik Alm  1 , Cornelia Adlhoch  1 , James Fielding  2 , Miriam Sneiderman  2 , Oksana Martinuka  1 , Lucia Pastore Celentano  1 , Richard Pebody  2 ; WHO European Region influenza surveillance network  5 ; WHO European Region Influenza Surveillance Network author list
Collaborators, Affiliations

Virological surveillance of influenza viruses in the WHO European Region in 2019/20 - impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Angeliki Melidou et al. Euro Surveill. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the 2019/20 WHO European Region influenza surveillance. Compared with previous 4-year averages, antigenic and genetic characterisations decreased by 17% (3,140 vs 2,601) and 24% (4,474 vs 3,403). Of subtyped influenza A viruses, 56% (26,477/47,357) were A(H1)pdm09, 44% (20,880/47,357) A(H3). Of characterised B viruses, 98% (4,585/4,679) were B/Victoria. Considerable numbers of viruses antigenically differed from northern hemisphere vaccine components. In 2020/21, maintaining influenza virological surveillance, while supporting SARS-CoV-2 surveillance is crucial.

Keywords: COVID-19; Europe; SARS-CoV-2; influenza virus; pandemic; surveillance; virus characterization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of positive sentinel specimens and positivity by week of reporting, week 40 2016 to week 20 2020, over four consecutive seasons, WHO European Region, 2016/17–2019/20
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of countries reporting influenza virus characterisation data and number of influenza virus characterisations by season, WHO European Region, 2016/17–2019/20
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and World Health Organization. (WHO). FluNewsEurope. Joint ECDC-WHO/Europe weekly influenza update. Stockholm and Geneva: WHO and ECDC. [Accessed Oct 2020]. Available from: https://flunewseurope.org/
    1. Mook P, Meerhoff T, Olsen SJ, Snacken R, Adlhoch C, Pereyaslov D, et al. Collective of the WHO European Region, European Influenza Surveillance Network Alternating patterns of seasonal influenza activity in the WHO European Region following the 2009 pandemic, 2010-2018. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2020;14(2):150-61. 10.1111/irv.12703 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO Regional Office for Europe. (WHO/Europe). European external quality assessment programme for influenza virus 2018. Stockholm and Copenhagen: ECDC and WHO/Europe; 2019. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/portal/files/documents/influenza-virus-...
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Influenza virus characterisation - Summary Europe, July 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/influenza-virus-characte...
    1. Worldwide Influenza Centre (WIC), World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza. Report prepared for the WHO annual consultation on the composition of influenza vaccine for the Southern Hemisphere 2021. London: WIC; Sep 2020. Available from: https://www.crick.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-10/Crick_SH2021%20repor...

MeSH terms