Central America, South America, Influenza Activity Increased Steadily over last several weeks

In temperate countries in the southern hemisphere, influenza activity increased steadily in the last few weeks in South America.

WHO.INT reported In temperate South America, influenza-like illness (ILI), acute respiratory infection (ARI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases continued to increase. Of the respiratory viruses detected, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 predominated.

In the Caribbean countries, respiratory virus activity remained generally low with decreasing influenza B activity reported in many countries over the past few weeks, except in Jamaica, where slight increases in SARI and pneumonia activities were observed.

In Central America, the number of hospitalizations due to pneumonia seemed to have peaked in El Salvador. In Panama, over the past few weeks, detections of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 decreased slightly while detections of non-influenza respiratory viruses increased. RSV activity continued in Costa Rica and Guatemala.

In tropical South America, respiratory virus activities varied. In Colombia and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 activity increased and RSV activity decreased or remained low. ARI and SARI activities were elevated compared to previous years in Colombia. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 detections seemed to have peaked and the proportion of SARI-related hospitalizations decreased to expected levels in Ecuador. In Peru, influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 activity decreased while RSV activity increased slightly. In Brazil, influenza detections and SARI indicators seemed to have peaked already. Read Article

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