title: [The application of integrated surveillance system for symptoms in surveillance of influenza among children].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the integrated application of sales of child-specific over-the-counter (OTC) cold related medications in retail pharmacies and healthcare visits of children for influenza-like illness (ILI) in surveillance and early warning of influenza among children.
  
  
  METHODS
  An integrated surveillance system (ISS) was implemented since 2012 in Qianjiang County, a rural area in Hubei Province of China. The daily information from August 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013 of health care visits of children for ILI reported by 80 health facilities and sales of 14 child-specific over-the-counter (OTC) cold related medications reported by 11 pharmacies were extracted from ISS database. Cumulative sums (CUSUM) model was conducted to analyze the degree of fitting and the early warning signal generated; the correlationship was then analyzed further.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 212 days, 983 visits of children for ILI and 12 819 sales by person of child-specific OTC were reported. Conducting CUSUM model, the fitting degree was in the acceptable range, 31 warning signals were generated from ILI data series with 3 peak periods and 14 from OTC data series with 2 peak periods. A similar time trend of two data series was observed with a correlation(r = 0.497, P < 0.05), but without any spatial clustering. And the optimal correlation(r = 0.505, P < 0.05) appeared at a time offset of 4 days preceded by OTC sales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The availability of integrated surveillance system for symptoms could be applied for surveillance of influenza among children; while it could explore the possibility of real epidemic in the very early stage.
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors: Li-hong
authors: LH
authors: Tian
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Tan
authors: Yun-zhou
authors: YZ
authors: Fan
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Li-wei
authors: LW
authors: Cheng
authors: Sheng
authors: S
authors: Wei
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Liu
authors: Wei-rong
authors: WR
authors: Yan
authors: Biao
authors: B
authors: Xu
authors: Heng-jin
authors: HJ
authors: Dong
authors: Email: sf_nie@mails.tjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Shao-fa
authors: SF
authors: Nie
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D011159:Population Surveillance
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs