| Autor: |
Haas Walter, Buchholz Udo, Zucs Phillip, Uphoff Helmut |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2005 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
Emerging Themes in Epidemiology, Vol 2, Iss 1, p 6 (2005) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
1742-7622 |
| DOI: |
10.1186/1742-7622-2-6 |
| Popis: |
Abstract Influenza-associated excess mortality is widely used to assess the severity of influenza epidemics. In Germany, however, it is not yet established as a routine component of influenza surveillance. We therefore applied a simple method based on the annual distribution of monthly relative mortality (relative mortality distribution method, RMDM) to a time-series of German monthly all-cause mortality data from 1985–2001 to estimate influenza-associated excess mortality. Results were compared to those obtained by cyclical regression. Both methods distinguished stronger from milder influenza seasons, but RMDM gave the better fit (R2 = 0.80). For the years after reunification, i.e. 1990/91 through 2000/01, RMDM yielded an average of 6900 (conservative estimate) to13600 influenza-asssociated excess deaths per season (crude estimate). The most severe epidemics occurred during subtype A/H3N2 seasons. While German all-cause mortality declined over the study period, the number of excess deaths displayed an upward trend, coinciding with an increase of the proportion of the elderly population. |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
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