Influenza is an infectious disease caused by influenza A and B viruses. Children are the group which is the most exposed to influenza and influenza-like infections. They are considered as carriers of influenza infections in the population. In the epidemic season 2015/2016 more than 8000 samples were tested, of which over 30 % specimens were collected from patients aged 0-14 years. In 42.3 % cases the influenza or influenza-like viruses were confirmed. The most common subtype was A/H1N1/pdm09. Analysis of positive specimens was categorized into three smaller groups 0-4, 5-9, 10-14. Differences in the frequency of virus detections in younger age groups appeared. This study has shown that children are a very important group in the spread of the influenza virus in the population. A higher percentage of vaccinated children would decrease the number of infected patients in the whole population.
The aim of this study was to determine the level of anti-hemagglutinin antibodies in the serum of people in different age-groups during the 2014/2015 epidemic influenza season in Poland. A total of 1050 sera were tested. The level of anti-hemagglutinin antibodies was determined using the hemagglutinin inhibition test. The results provided information on the incidence of circulating A/California/7/2009(H1N1)pdm09, A/Texas/50/2012(H3N2), and B/Massachusetts/2/2012 viruses. The level of antibodies against influenza differed between age-groups. The protection rate was the highest for the antigen B/Massachusetts/2/2012, with the decreasing order of values in the following age-groups: ≥65 years (76.7 %), 15-25 years (72.7 %), and 0-4 years (62.0 %). The average values of the protection rate in other age-groups were as follows: 43.3 % in 22-64 years, 40% in 5-9 years, and 39.3 % in 45-64 years of age, while the lowest value of 22.7 % was in 10-14 years old subjects. In the 2014/2015 epidemic season in Poland only were 3.6 % of the population vaccinated. That is why the presented results could be interpreted as a response of the immune system of patients after infection caused by influenza virus.
Influenza is an infectious disease that is a common cause of infection among children. The main reason for it is the extremely low percentage of vaccinated people in Poland. In the 2016/2017 epidemic season more than 3,000 tests from children up to age 14 were examined. The dominance of subtype A/H3N2/ (40.9%) was confirmed. The evaluation was stratified by three age groups (0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years), which revealed significant differences. The highest number of samples was available in the 0-4 years group. The highest percentage of positive samples was present in the 10-14 years group. Influenza-like viral infections, among them the respiratory syncytial virus, were also observed. Children due to immature immunity are at particular risk for influenza. A lack of proper vaccination coverage strongly increases the chance of serious complications of the infection.
Concerning viral infection of the respiratory system, a single virus can cause a variety of clinical symptoms and the same set of symptoms can be caused by different viruses. Moreover, infection is often caused by a combination of viruses acting at the same time. The present study demonstrates, using multiplex RT-PCR and real-time qRT-PCR, that in the 2015/2016 influenza season, co-infections were confirmed in patients aged 1 month to 90 years. We found 73 co-infections involving influenza viruses, 17 involving influenza viruses and influenza-like viruses, and six involving influenza-like viruses. The first type of co-infections above mentioned was the most common, amounting to 51 cases, with type A and B viruses occurring simultaneously. There also were four cases of co-infections with influenza virus A/H1N1/pdm09 and A/H1N1/ subtypes and two cases with A/H1N1/pdm09 and A/H3N2/ subtypes. The 2015/2016 epidemic season was characterized by a higher number of confirmed co-infections compared with the previous seasons. Infections by more than one respiratory virus were most often found in children and in individuals aged over 65.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.