BACKGROUND We sought to quantify the impact of patient characteristics on complications and health care costs associated with influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in a nonelderly population. METHODS Patients with medical reimbursement claims for influenza in the 1996-1997 season were identified from the automated database of a large private New England Insurer (NEI). Influenza care duri...

BACKGROUND Outbreaks of influenza-like illness (ILI) are common in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and result in significant morbidity and mortality among residents. OBJECTIVES We describe patterns of reported ILI outbreaks in LTCFs in Winnipeg, Canada, and examine LTCF and outbreak characteristics that influence the clinical outcomes of these outbreaks. METHODS We analyzed the electronic...

Influenza is a malady related to the human respiratory system, and its influenza-like illness (ILI) can cause an economic and social burden, especially among children and the elderly. This study was conducted to estimate the cost of illness based on a social perspective of ILI cases. A prospective study was conducted between February and March of 2016 in pharmacies, private clinics at Khanh Hoa...

BACKGROUND We designed and validated a rule-based expert system to identify influenza like illness (ILI) from routinely recorded general practice clinical narrative to aid a larger retrospective research study into the impact of the 2009 influenza pandemic in New Zealand. METHODS Rules were assessed using pattern matching heuristics on routine clinical narrative. The system was trained using ...

We examined the effects of a 10-14-weeks inpatient lifestyle modification program, including minimum 90 min of physical activity (PA) five days/week, on body composition, CVD risk factors, and eating behavior in 139 obese subjects (BMI 42.6 ± 5.2 kg/m²). Completion rate was 71% (n = 71) in the intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) group and 85% (n = 33) among waiting list controls. Compared to...

BACKGROUND To collect disease information and provide data for early detection of epidemics, two surveillance systems were established for influenza-like illness (ILI) and unexplained pneumonia (UP) in Wuxi, People's Republic of China. OBJECTIVES The current study aims to describe the performance of these surveillance systems during 2004-2009 and to evaluate the value of surveillance data in ...

The 2010 Victorian influenza season was characterized by normal seasonal influenza activity and the dominance of the pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 strain. General Practice Sentinel Surveillance rates peaked at 9.4 ILI cases per 1000 consultations in week 36 for metropolitan practices, and at 10.5 ILI cases per 1000 in the following week for rural practices. Of the 678 ILI cases, 23% were vaccinated, a ...

BACKGROUND Infections by influenza viruses place a heavy burden on public health and economies worldwide. Although vaccines are the best weapons against influenza, antiviral drugs could offer an opportunity to alleviate the burden of influenza. Since omeprazole family compounds block the "proton pump", we hypothesized that they could interfere with the mechanism of fusion of the virus envelope ...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis and treatment of patients with the A(H1N1) pandemic flu caused some serious burden for general practitioners (GPs) in the summer and autumn of 2009. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to track the incidence of influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in Belgium and to describe the characteristics of the affected patients. METHODS In July 2009, the Belgian online ...

BACKGROUND Surveillance indicators of influenza activity have generally provided robust comparative trend data for England. These indicators became less reliable, however, for monitoring trends in activity, or comparisons with previous years, during the influenza pandemic in 2009 because of changes in the perception of risk and changes in the systems of healthcare delivery. An approach was deve...