Severe influenza greater burden in LMICs than in wealthier countries

Three recent studies underscore the significant burden of severe influenza in developing countries compared with wealthier ones.The data show that health care officials must conduct thorough surveillance and address risk factors for severe influenza in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as is done in high-income countries (HICs), they wrote in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. "Continued investment in capacity building for influenza surveillance is fundamental to understanding the role of influenza in association with serious outcomes; the need is universal but urgent in LMIC" researcher Brenda L. Coleman, PhD, MSc, a clinical scientist in the infectious disease epidemiology research unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, and colleagues wrote. [...]people with HIV in LMICs were more than twice as likely to have severe outcomes than those without HIV (pRR = 2.17).