Hospitalisation associated with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and seasonal influenza in Hong Kong, 2005 to 2010.
Résumé
Reliable estimates of the morbidity burden caused by the 2009 pandemic influenza (pH1N1) are important for assessing the severity of the pandemic. Poisson regression models were fitted to weekly numbers of cause-specific hospitalisation in Hong Kong from 2005 to 2010. Excess hospitalisation associated with the 2009 pandemic and seasonal influenza was derived from the model by incorporating the proxy variables of weekly proportions of specimens positive for the pan- demic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, seasonal influenza A (subtypes H3N2 and H1N1) and B viruses. Compared with seasonal influenza, pH1N1 influenza was associ- ated with higher hospitalisation rates for acute respir- atory disease (ARD) among children younger than 18 years and adults aged between 18 and 64 years, but among the elderly aged 65 years and older the hos- pitalisation rates were lower for pH1N1 than for sea- sonal H3N2 and H1N1 influenza. Hospitalisation rates for chronic diseases associated with pH1N1 influenza were generally higher than those associated with sea- sonal influenza. The reported hospitalised cases with laboratory-confirmed pandemic infections accounted for only 16% of pH1N1 influenza-associated hospitali- sations for ARD in the age group 75 years and older, and 5‒66% of hospitalisations for chronic diseases in those older than 40 years. The 2009 H1N1 influ- enza pandemic was associated with a dramatically increased risk of hospitalisation among children and young adults. The morbidity burden of pandemic was underreported in old people and in those with chronic conditions.