Surveillance data reporting

The data generated by the CNRL, together with clinical sentinel surveillance data reported by the national influenza surveillance networks of mainly general practitioners, are reported each week during the influenza season (week 40 to week 20 of the following year) in the expert-reviewed EISS bulletin. Clinical specimens are obtained from patients diagnosed as having an influenza-like illness or acute respiratory infection (ILI or ARI respectively) either via the sentinel network or from non-sentinel sources, eg. hospitals, clinics and institutions for the elderly. Both sentinel and non-sentinel specimens are sent to the CNRL where tests for influenza and for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are performed. RSV often circulates at the same time as influenza virus and causes respiratory disease with similar symptoms. Data from sentinel and non-sentinel specimens are submitted online to the EISS database. An inventory of the time-scale between collection of the sample and test results can be found here. For a flow scheme showing the destination of sentinel and non-sentinel specimens, click here.