title: FluCAN 2009: initial results from sentinel surveillance for adult influenza and pneumonia in eight Australian hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the epidemiology of adult patients hospitalised with influenza or pneumonia during a pandemic season in a sentinel network in Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective case series of adult hospital admissions to eight acute care general public hospitals (Influenza Complications Alert Network [Flu CAN] sentinel hospitals) in six Australian jurisdictions, 1 July to 4 December 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographic, clinical and outcome measures in patients admitted with laboratory-confirmed pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in the sentinel hospitals compared with data from national notifications and intensive care unit (ICU) surveillance; admissions for influenza and pneumonia over time in each jurisdiction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 190 hospital-weeks of observation, there were 538 influenza admissions. Of these, 465 patients (86.4%) had the pandemic strain, representing 9.3% of total admissions with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza (n = 4992) recorded nationally in 2009. Of these patients, 250/465 (53.8%) were women, 67/453 (14.8%) were Indigenous, and the median age was 46 years (interquartile range, 29-58 years). Comorbidities were present in 354/464 patients (76.3%), and 40 were pregnant (30.3% of women aged 15-49 years). FluCAN reported that 102 patients (21.9%) were admitted to ICUs, and of patients admitted to hospital, 26 (5.6%) died. FluCAN results were very similar to national notification data and published ICU admissions data. Of those who were followed to 30 days after discharge, 30 (6.5%) were readmitted. Of 1468 patients hospitalised with pneumonia, 718 (48.9%) were tested for influenza and 163 (11.1%) were co-infected with the pandemic strain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sentinel surveillance systems can provide important and reliable information in a timely fashion and can monitor changes in severity of influenza during a pandemic season.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. paul.kelly@anu.edu.au
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kotsimbos
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wood-Baker
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hancox
authors.forename: Simon G A
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bowler
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waterer
authors.forename: Louis B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: Phillip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Allen C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058873:Pandemics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D055815:Young Adult