Pandemic influenza H1N1 outbreak in the Military School

Abstract

Background/Aim. The first cases of the pandemic pH1N1 influenza virus infection was observed in the United States and Mexico in April 2009 and the first laboratory confirmed case in Serbia was registered in June 2009. The aim of this paper was to report on the investigation of the first confirmed outbreak of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza in Serbia and to describe the clinical and epidemiologic findings from this investigation. Methods. Descriptive and analytical epidemiological methods were used. Data were collected from medical records of the Military School students and epidemiological questionnaire. Pandemic H1N1 infection was initially confirmed by the RT-PCR assay in nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs and subsequently by the complement fixation test in serum samples. Results. The attack rate of acute respiratory illness was 70.8% (204/288). Pandemic H1N1 virus infection was confirmed in 44 of 82 tested cases of acute respiratory illness (53.7%) The most common clinical manifestations of pandemic influenza H1N1 were fever (88.6%), cough (61.4%), malaise (38.6%), runny nose (36.4%), headache (29.6%), sore throat (20.5%) and muscle pain (15.9%). Conclusion. The findings from this investigation suggest that pandemic H1N1 influenza in a high military school was widespread but did not cause severe illness.

Uvod/Cilj. Prvi slučajevi pandemijske infekcije virusom influence pH1N1 ustanovljeni su u Americi i Meksiku u aprilu 2009. a u Srbiji prvi laboratorijski potvrđen slučaj registrovan je u junu 2009. godine. Cilj rada bio je da se prikaže istraživanje prve dokazane epidemije pandemijske influence H1N1 u Srbiji i opišu klinički i epidemiološki nalazi iz ovog istraživanja. Metode. Primenjen je deskriptivni i analitički epidemiološki metod. Izvor podataka bila je medicinska dokumentacija učenika Vojne gimnazije i epidemiološki upitnik. Infekcija pandemijskim virusom H1N1 prvo je dokazana pomoću RT-PCR u nazofaringealnim i orofaringealnim brisevima, a zatim i reakcijom vezivanja komlementa u uzorcima seruma. Rezultati. Stopa javljanja akutnog respiratornog oboljenja iznosila je 70.8% (204/288). Infekcija pandemijskim H1N1 virusom potvrđena je kod 44 od 82 testiranih slučajeva akutnog respiratornog oboljenja (53,7%). Najčešće kliničke manifestacije pandemijske influence H1N1 bile su povišena temperatura (88,6%), kašalj (61,4%), malaksalost (38,6%), rinitis (36,4%), glavobolja (29,6%), gušobolja (20,5%) i bol u mišićima (15,9%). Zaključak. Rezultati ovog istraživanja ukazuju da je pandemijska influenca H1N1 bila raširena u Vojnoj gimnaziji, ali da nije izazvala teške forme oboljenja.