Epidemiology of influenza during 2010/2011 in Lithuania

Abstract

Influenza and acute respiratory infections cause serious health problems in addition to social and economic challenges. In this article the 2010/2011 influenza season is reviewed and compared with the pandemic 2009/2010 influenza season using data from the Centre for Communicable Diseases and AIDS. The last influenza season was more or less similar to all influenza seasons before the pandemic season. However, there were almost as many deaths as during the pandemic season. None of the patients who had lethal outcomes were vaccinated. The biggest difference from the pandemic season was that the most common influenza virus detected in samples was A(H1)v during the 2010/2011 influenza season. The differences and similarities with the pandemic season and the unpredictability of every influenza season are discussed in this article.