FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 347:2097-2103 December 26, 2002 Number 26 Next

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text PowerPoint Slide Set Editorial by Griffin, M. R. Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

ABSTRACT

Background It has been difficult to define the burden of influenza in children because of confounding by the cocirculation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In Hong Kong, China, the influenza and RSV infection seasons sometimes do not overlap, thus providing an opportunity to estimate the rate of influenza-related hospitalization in a defined population, free from the effects of RSV.

Methods In a retrospective, population-based study, we estimated the influenza-associated excess rate of hospitalization among children 15 years old or younger in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from 1997 to 1999. Data from a single hospital with intensive use of virologic analyses for diagnosis were obtained to define and adjust for underestimation of the model.

Results Peaks of influenza and RSV infection activity were well separated in 1998 and 1999 but overlapped in 1997. The adjusted rates of excess hospitalization for acute respiratory disease that were attributable to influenza were 278.5 and 288.2 per 10,000 children less than 1 year of age in 1998 and 1999, respectively; 218.4 and 209.3 per 10,000 children 1 to less than 2 years of age; 125.6 and 77.3 per 10,000 children 2 to less than 5 years of age; 57.3 and 20.9 per 10,000 children 5 to less than 10 years of age; and 16.4 and 8.1 per 10,000 children 10 to 15 years of age.

Conclusions In the subtropics, influenza is an important cause of hospitalization among children, with rates exceeding those reported for temperate regions.

Source Information

From the Departments of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (S.S.C., Y.L.L., W.H.S.W.) and Microbiology (K.H.C., J.S.M.P.), University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Peiris at the Department of Microbiology, University Pathology Bldg., Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, or at malik{at}hkucc.hku.hk.

Full Text of this Article

This article has been cited by other articles:

• White, M., Kingma, P., Tecle, T., Kacak, N., Linders, B., Heuser, J., Crouch, E., Hartshorn, K. (2008). Multimerization of Surfactant Protein D, but Not Its Collagen Domain, Is Required for Antiviral and Opsonic Activities Related to Influenza Virus. J. Immunol. 181: 7936-7943 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Zaman, K., Roy, E., Arifeen, S. E., Rahman, M., Raqib, R., Wilson, E., Omer, S. B., Shahid, N. S., Breiman, R. F., Steinhoff, M. C. (2008). Effectiveness of Maternal Influenza Immunization in Mothers and Infants. NEJM 359: 1555-1564 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ho, A M-H, Nelson, E A S, Walker, D G (2008). Rotavirus vaccination for Hong Kong children: an economic evaluation from the Hong Kong Government perspective. Arch. Dis. Child. 93: 52-58 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lambert, S. B., Allen, K. M., Druce, J. D., Birch, C. J., Mackay, I. M., Carlin, J. B., Carapetis, J. R., Sloots, T. P., Nissen, M. D., Nolan, T. M. (2007). Community Epidemiology of Human Metapneumovirus, Human Coronavirus NL63, and Other Respiratory Viruses in Healthy Preschool-Aged Children Using Parent-Collected Specimens. Pediatrics 120: e929-e937 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Piedra, P. A., Gaglani, M. J., Kozinetz, C. A., Herschler, G. B., Fewlass, C., Harvey, D., Zimmerman, N., Glezen, W. P. (2007). Trivalent Live Attenuated Intranasal Influenza Vaccine Administered During the 2003 2004 Influenza Type A (H3N2) Outbreak Provided Immediate, Direct, and Indirect Protection in Children. Pediatrics 120: e553-e564 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chung, B., Wong, V. (2007). Relationship between five common viruses and febrile seizure in children. Arch. Dis. Child. 92: 589-593 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vesikari, T., Fleming, D. M., Aristegui, J. F., Vertruyen, A., Ashkenazi, S., Rappaport, R., Skinner, J., Saville, M. K., Gruber, W. C., Forrest, B. D., for the CAIV-T Pediatric Day Care Clinical Trial N, (2006). Safety, Efficacy, and Effectiveness of Cold-Adapted Influenza Vaccine-Trivalent Against Community-Acquired, Culture-Confirmed Influenza in Young Children Attending Day Care. Pediatrics 118: 2298-2312 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ampofo, K., Gesteland, P. H., Bender, J., Mills, M., Daly, J., Samore, M., Byington, C., Pavia, A. T., Srivastava, R. (2006). Epidemiology, Complications, and Cost of Hospitalization in Children With Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Infection. Pediatrics 118: 2409-2417 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cowling, B. J, Wong, I. O L, Ho, L.-M., Riley, S., Leung, G. M (2006). Methods for monitoring influenza surveillance data. Int J Epidemiol 35: 1314-1321 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Walter, E. B., Neuzil, K. M., Zhu, Y., Fairchok, M. P., Gagliano, M. E., Monto, A. S., Englund, J. A. (2006). Influenza Vaccine Immunogenicity in 6- to 23-Month-Old Children: Are Identical Antigens Necessary for Priming?. Pediatrics 118: e570-e578 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Monto, A. S., McKimm-Breschkin, J. L., Macken, C., Hampson, A. W., Hay, A., Klimov, A., Tashiro, M., Webster, R. G., Aymard, M., Hayden, F. G., Zambon, M. (2006). Detection of Influenza Viruses Resistant to Neuraminidase Inhibitors in Global Surveillance during the First 3 Years of Their Use.. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 2395-2402 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Stephenson, I., Democratis, J. (2006). Influenza: current threat from avian influenza. Br Med Bull 75-76: 63-80 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nguyen-Van-Tam, J S (2006). Influenza related hospital admissions in children: evidence about the burden keeps growing but the route to policy change remains uncertain. Arch. Dis. Child. 91: 5-7 [Full Text]  
• Beard, F, McIntyre, P, Gidding, H, Watson, M (2006). Influenza related hospitalisations in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Arch. Dis. Child. 91: 20-25 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Piedra, P. A., Gaglani, M. J., Riggs, M., Herschler, G., Fewlass, C., Watts, M., Kozinetz, C., Hessel, C., Glezen, W. P. (2005). Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine, Trivalent, Is Safe in Healthy Children 18 Months to 4 Years, 5 to 9 Years, and 10 to 18 Years of Age in a Community-Based, Nonrandomized, Open-Label Trial. Pediatrics 116: e397-e407 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Englund, J. A., Walter, E. B., Fairchok, M. P., Monto, A. S., Neuzil, K. M. (2005). A Comparison of 2 Influenza Vaccine Schedules in 6- to 23-Month-Old Children. Pediatrics 115: 1039-1047 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Weinberg, A., Walker, M. L. (2005). Evaluation of Three Immunoassay Kits for Rapid Detection of Influenza Virus A and B. CVI 12: 367-370 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Principi, N, Esposito, S, Gasparini, R, Marchisio, P, Crovari, P, for the Flu-Flu Study Group*, (2004). Burden of influenza in healthy children and their households. Arch. Dis. Child. 89: 1002-1007 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Daley, M. F., Barrow, J., Pearson, K., Crane, L. A., Gao, D., Stevenson, J. M., Berman, S., Kempe, A. (2004). Identification and Recall of Children With Chronic Medical Conditions for Influenza Vaccination. Pediatrics 113: e26-33 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Quach, C., Piche-Walker, L., Platt, R., Moore, D. (2003). Risk Factors Associated With Severe Influenza Infections in Childhood: Implication for Vaccine Strategy. Pediatrics 112: e197-201 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Creer, D D (2003). Higher influenza-related paediatric admission rates in the tropics than in temperate regions. Thorax 58: 251-251 [Full Text]  
• (2003). Childhood Influenza More Common in Hong Kong Than in Temperate Regions. JWatch Infect. Diseases 2003: 10-10 [Full Text]  
• Griffin, M. R., Neuzil, K. M. (2002). The Global Implications of Influenza in Hong Kong. NEJM 347: 2159-2162 [Full Text]