Incidence of respiratory virus illness and hospitalizations in a Panama and El Salvador birth cohort, 2014-2018.

Background: Respiratory viruses remain a key cause of early childhood illness, hospitalization, and death globally.The recent pandemic has rekindled interest in the control of respiratory viruses among paediatric populations. We estimate the burden of such viruses among children <2 years.

Incidence of influenza and other respiratory viruses among pregnant women: A multi-country, multiyear cohort.

Objective: To quantify rates of influenza illness and assess value of influenza vaccination among pregnant women in Panama and El Salvador.

Methods: Pregnant women were enrolled and followed each week in a prospective cohort study to identify acute respiratory illnesses (ARI). Nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from women with febrile ARI were tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction for influenza and other respiratory viruses.

Global Role and Burden of Influenza in Pediatric Respiratory Hospitalizations, 1982-2012: A Systematic Analysis.

Background: The global burden of pediatric severe respiratory illness is substantial, and influenza viruses contribute to this burden. Systematic surveillance and testing for influenza among hospitalized children has expanded globally over the past decade. However, only a fraction of the data has been used to estimate influenza burden.

Estimating the burden of influenza-associated hospitalizations and deaths in Central America.

Objectives: Our objective was to estimate the incidence of influenza-associated hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths in Central American Region.

Design And Setting: We used hospital discharge records, influenza surveillance virology data, and population projections collected from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to estimate influenza-associated hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths. We performed a meta-analysis of influenza-associated hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths.

Influenza Illness among Case-Patients Hospitalized for Suspected Dengue, El Salvador, 2012.

We estimate the proportion of patients hospitalized for suspected dengue that tested positive for influenza virus in El Salvador during the 2012 influenza season. We tested specimens from 321 hospitalized patients: 198 patients with SARI and 123 patients with suspected dengue. Among 121 hospitalized suspected dengue (two co-infected excluded) patients, 28% tested positive for dengue and 19% positive for influenza; among 35 with suspected dengue and respiratory symptoms, 14% were positive for dengue and 39% positive for influenza.

Estimated incidence of influenza-virus-associated severe pneumonia in children in El Salvador, 2008-2010.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of influenza-virus-associated severe pneumonia among Salvadorian children aged < 5 years.

Methods: Data on children aged < 5 years admitted with severe pneumonia to a sentinel hospital in the western region were collected weekly. Nasal and oropharyngeal swab specimens were collected from a convenience sample of case patients for respiratory virus testing.