Severe Acute Respiratory Illness Deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Role of Influenza: A Case Series From 8 Countries

Abstract

Background. Data on causes of death due to respiratory illness in Africa are limited. Methods. From January to April 2013, 28 African countries were invited to participate in a review of severe acute respiratory illness (SARI)-associated deaths identified from influenza surveillance during 2009-2012. Results. Twenty-three countries (82%) responded, 11 (48%) collect mortality data, and 8 provided data. Data were collected from 37 714 SARI cases, and 3091 (8.2%; range by country, 5.1%-25.9%) tested positive for influenza virus. There were 1073 deaths (2.8%; range by country, 0.1%-5.3%) reported, among which influenza virus was detected in 57 (5.3%). Case-fatality proportion (CFP) was higher among countries with systematic death reporting than among those with sporadic reporting. The influenza-associated CFP was 1.8% (57 of 3091), compared with 2.9% (1016 of 34 623) for influenza virus-negative cases (P