Disease burden based on community influenza surveillance in Hangu street, Tianjin municipality

Objective To analysis the incidence of influenza in Hangu street community in Tianjin and estimate direct and indirect health costs for influenza cases. Methods Epidemiological surveillance and laboratory detection of influenza-like illness (ILI) were carried out. A standard questionnaire survey was conducted among all ILI cases. Direct and indirect costs of treatment were analyzed and work loss was converted into economic loss through human capital approach for further evaluation. Results A total of 167 influenza cases were confirmed in Hangu street. The median of direct and indirect costs were 131.05 and 276.85 RMB for outpatients, 3682.00 and 203.75 RMB for inpatients. There was no significant difference on direct cost between confirmed influenza cases and non confirmed ILI cases. (P0.05) Workdays lost and economic loss of influenza cases were higher than those of non confirmed ILI cases. (P0.05) Conclusion It is necessary to conduct comprehensive influenza surveillance to monitor influenza activity, strengthen influenza prevention and control and reduce the disease burden.