Survey of influenza and other respiratory viruses diagnostic testing in US hospitals, 2012-2013.

Background: Little is known about laboratory capacity to routinely diagnose influenza and other respiratory viruses at clinical laboratories and hospitals.

Aims: We sought to assess diagnostic practices for influenza and other respiratory virus in a survey of hospitals and laboratories participating in the US Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network in 2012-2013.

Materials And Methods: All hospitals and their associated laboratories participating in the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) were included in this evaluation.

Estimating influenza disease burden from population-based surveillance data in the United States.

Annual estimates of the influenza disease burden provide information to evaluate programs and allocate resources. We used a multiplier method with routine population-based surveillance data on influenza hospitalization in the United States to correct for under-reporting and estimate the burden of influenza for seasons after the 2009 pandemic. Five sites of the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) collected data on the frequency and sensitivity of influenza testing during two seasons to estimate under-detection.

Comparing clinical characteristics between hospitalized adults with laboratory-confirmed influenza A and B virus infection.

We challenge the notion that influenza B is milder than influenza A by finding similar clinical characteristics between hospitalized adult influenza-cases. Among patients treated with oseltamivir, length of stay and mortality did not differ by type of virus infection.