[Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal influenza in mainland China].
OBJECTIVE
To study the spatiotemporal distribution and seasonal characteristics of influenza and to explore its transmission patterns, in the mainland of China.


METHODS
Spatiotemporal cluster methods and spatial trend surface methods were used to analyze the influenza surveillance data.


RESULTS
There were a summer peak in the south from June to August (RR(paediatric) = 1.31, P < 0.01; RR(internal) = 1.74, P < 0.01) and a winter peak from December to January (RR(paediatric) = 1.45, P < 0.01; RR(internal) = 1.45, P < 0.01) in the northern part of the country, during every epidemic season. Influenza virus in mainland China seemed to spread from the southern to the northern parts of the country, in a progressing way.


CONCLUSIONS
In the southern part of the country, it is more important to take prevention and control measurements on influenza from June to August but for the northern part, the key period is from December to January. It is more important to timely identify the variation of the influenza virus, in the southern part of the country.
Gao
Yan
Y
State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China.
Fang
Li-qun
LQ
Zhang
Yong
Y
Qian
Quan
Q
Li
Ya-pin
YP
Xu
Cui-ling
CL
Zhang
Ye
Y
Yan
Lei
L
Yang
Hua
H
Bai
Yan-chen
YC
Yang
Hong
H
Cao
Wu-chun
WC
Shu
Yue-long
YL
D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons