Influenza Update N° 492

Overview

^{Published 11 September 2024 | For reporting Week 35, ending 1 September 2024}

Influenza

• In the Northern hemisphere, influenza activity in temperate countries remained at interepidemic levels. Activity was elevated in Western Africa (due to A(H3N2) and B viruses), Middle Africa (due to A(H3N2) viruses), Southern Asia (due to A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses) and South East Asia (due to A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses) and was also elevated in a few countries in Western Asia (due to A(H1N1pdm09 viruses) and Central America and the Caribbean (due to A(H3N2) viruses). Activity increased in a few countries in Middle Africa, Western Africa, Southern Asia and Northern Europe.
• In the Southern hemisphere, influenza activity remained elevated in some countries in South America (due to influenza B and A(H3N2) viruses), Eastern Africa (due to A(H3N2) and B viruses) and Southern Africa (due to B viruses). Activity increased in some areas of Tropical South America.
  

SARS-CoV-2

• SARS-CoV-2 activity remained elevated in many countries in Europe and a few countries in Western Asia, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia, Central America and the Caribbean and Tropical South America. Increased activity was seen in a few reporting countries in Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Tropical South America. Activity was similar or declined compared with the prior report in all other reporting countries.

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.