Influenza Update N° 481

Overview

^{Published 26 June 2024 | For reporting Week 24, ending 16 June 2024}

Influenza

• IIn the Northern hemisphere, elevated influenza activity continued to be reported in countries in Central America and the Caribbean and in South Asia, primarily due to influenza A(H3N2) viruses. In Western Africa, influenza activity, due primarily to influenza A(H3N2) and B viruses, was elevated and increasing in some countries. In most temperate countries, influenza activity remained low at interepidemic levels.
• In the Southern hemisphere, influenza activity in countries in South America, and Oceania and in South Africa continues to be elevated but there are indications that activity may have peaked in some countries in South America and in South Africa. In South America activity was primarily due to A(H3N2) viruses, in South Africa A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses predominated, and in Oceania both A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) viruses circulated.

 

SARS-CoV-2

• SARS-CoV-2 activity, reported from sentinel surveillance in 57 countries, was elevated and increasing in some countries in South West Europe, and elevated activity was reported in some countries in Western Africa and South East Asia.

WHO encourages countries, especially those that have received the multiplex influenza and SARS-CoV-2 reagent kits from GISRS, to conduct integrated surveillance of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 and report epidemiological and laboratory information in a timely manner to established regional and global platforms. The guidance can be found here https://covid.comesa.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-integrated_sentinel_surveillance-2022.1.