Surveillance for severe influenza and COVID-19 in patients admitted to sentinel Australian hospitals in 2020: the Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN)

Authors

  • Husna Begum Alfred Health and Monash University
  • Dominic E Dwyer University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital
  • Mark Holmes University of Adelaide; Royal Adelaide Hospital
  • Louis B Irving Royal Melbourne Hospital and University of Melbourne
  • Graham Simpson Cairns Base Hospital
  • Sanjaya Senanayake Australian National University; Canberra Hospital
  • Tony Korman Monash Medical Centre; Monash University
  • N Deborah Friedman University Hospital Geelong
  • Louise Cooley Royal Hobart Hospital
  • Peter Wark University of Newcastle; John Hunter Hospital
  • Simon Bowler Mater Health
  • Jen Kok NSW Health Pathology-Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital
  • John W Upham University of Queensland; Princess Alexandra Hospital
  • Daniel M. Fatovich University of Western Australia; Royal Perth Hospital
  • Grant W Waterer University of Western Australia; Royal Perth Hospital
  • Kristine Macartney National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) within Kids Research, Children’s Hospital at Westmead
  • Christopher C Blyth University of Western Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital; Telethon Kids Institute
  • Nigel Crawford Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne
  • Jim Buttery Monash University; Monash Children’s Hospital
  • Helen S Marshall University of Adelaide; VIRTU, Women’s and Children’s Hospital
  • Julia E Clark Infection Management and Prevention, Queensland Children’s Hospital
  • Joshua R Francis Royal Darwin Hospital; Menzies School of Health Research; Charles Darwin University
  • Tom Kotsimbos Respiratory Medicine Laboratory, Monash University; Alfred Hospital
  • Paul M Kelly Australian Department of Health; Australian National University Medical School
  • Allen C Cheng Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology Unit, Alfred Health; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University; Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred and Central Clinical School, Monash University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2022.46.13

Keywords:

Influenza, public health surveillance, influenza vaccines, vaccination coverage, coronavirus

Abstract

Introduction
Influenza is a common cause of acute respiratory infection, and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infection that emerged as a pandemic worldwide before the start of the 2020 Australian influenza season. This report summarises the epidemiology of hospitalisations with laboratory-confirmed influenza and COVID-19 during the 2020 influenza season in a sentinel surveillance system.
Methods
The Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN) is a sentinel hospital-based surveillance program that operates at sites in all jurisdictions in Australia. Influenza and COVID-19 cases were defined as patients hospitalised at sentinel hospitals and confirmed by nucleic acid detection.
Results
There were 448 patients with COVID-19 admitted between 16 March and 31 December 2020, and only 20 patients with influenza admitted between 1 April and 30 November 2020, to one of 22 FluCAN hospitals. Of the COVID-19 cases, 173 (39%) were > 65 years of age, 36 (8%) were children (< 16 years), 6 (1%) were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 4 (1%) were pregnant and 289 (65%) had chronic comorbidities. COVID-19 hospital admissions peaked between weeks 13 and 15 (first wave) nationally, and again between weeks 31 and 35 (Victoria), with most admissions represented by those above 40 years of age.
Discussion
There was an unusually low number of hospital admissions with laboratory-confirmed influenza in this season, compared to recent seasons. This is likely to be due to effective public health interventions and international border closures as a result of a rise in COVID-19 respiratory infections and associated hospitalisations.

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Published

28/03/22

How to Cite

Begum, Husna, Dominic E Dwyer, Mark Holmes, Louis B Irving, Graham Simpson, Sanjaya Senanayake, Tony Korman, et al. 2022. “ Surveillance for Severe Influenza and COVID-19 in Patients Admitted to Sentinel Australian Hospitals in 2020: The Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN)”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 46 (March). https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2022.46.13.

Issue

Vol. 46 (2022)

Section

Annual report

Categories

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