Pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009: epidemiological analysis of cases in a tropical/semi-arid region of Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Pires Neto,Roberto da Justa
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Lemos,Daniele Rocha Queiroz, Cavalcanti,Luciano Pamplona de Góes, Ramos Junior,Alberto Novaes, Alencar,Carlos Henrique, Façanha,Mônica Cardoso, Barroso,Madalena Isabel Coelho, Vilar,Dina Cortez Lima Feitosa, Fonseca Neto,Manoel Dias da
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822013000200141
• topic: Pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009; Tropical/semi-arid region; Epidemiology; Clinical characteristics

IntroductionThe year 2009 marked the beginning of a pandemic caused by a new variant of influenza A (H1N1). After spreading through North America, the pandemic influenza virus (H1N1) 2009 spread rapidly throughout the world. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of cases of pandemic influenza in a tropical/semi-arid region of Brazil.MethodsA retrospective study analyzed all suspected cases of pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 reported in the Ceará State through the National Information System for Notifiable Diseases during the pandemic period between 28 April, 2009 and November 25, 2010.ResultsA total of 616 suspected cases were notified, 58 (9.4%) in the containment phase and 558 (90.6%) in the mitigation phase. Most cases were of affected young people resident in the City of Fortaleza, the largest urban center in the State of Ceará. The most frequent symptoms presented by the cases with confirmed infection were fever, cough, myalgia, arthralgia, and nasal congestion. Mortality rate was 0.0009/1,000 inhabitants and lethality was 5.6%. Deaths were observed only in the mitigation phase. Mortality rates were similar for both sexes but were higher in the age group under 5 years.ConclusionsThe study suggests that the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in this tropical/semi-arid region had a lower magnitude when compared to states in the Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil.