title: Influenza-like illnesses in Senegal: not only focus on influenza viruses.
abstract: Influenza surveillance in African countries was initially restricted to the identification of circulating strains. In Senegal, the network has recently been enhanced (i) to include epidemiological data from Dakar and other regions and (ii) to extend virological surveillance to other respiratory viruses. Epidemiological data from the sentinel sites is transmitted daily by mobile phone. The data include those for other febrile syndromes similar to influenza-like illnesses (ILI), corresponding to integrated approach. Also, clinical samples are randomly selected and analyzed for influenza and other respiratory viruses. There were 101,640 declared visits to the 11 sentinel sites between week 11-2012 and week 35-2013; 22% of the visits were for fever syndromes and 23% of the cases of fever syndrome were ILI. Influenza viruses were the second most frequent cause of ILI (20%), after adenoviruses (21%) and before rhinoviruses (18%) and enteroviruses (15%). Co-circulation and co-infection were frequent and were responsible for ILI peaks. The first months of implementation of the enhanced surveillance system confirmed that viruses other the influenza make large contributions to influenza-like illnesses. It is therefore important to consider these etiologies in the development of strategies to reduce respiratory infections. More informative tools and research studies are required to assess the burden of respiratory infections in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Virological Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Ndongo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dia
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Fatoumata
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Diene Sarr
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Diamilatou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thiam
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Tening
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Faye Sarr
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Espié
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: OmarBa
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: Malang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coly
authors.affiliation: Virological Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Mbayame
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niang
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Richard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D060085:Coinfection; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000821:virology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D012675:Senegal / Q000453:epidemiology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000821:virology; D055815:Young Adult