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Using Bioluminescent Imaging to Investigate Synergism Between Streptococcus pneumoniae and Influenza A Virus in Infant Mice
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Using Bioluminescent Imaging to Investigate Synergism Between Streptococcus pneumoniae and Influenza A Virus in Infant Mice

Published on: April 14, 2011

No temporal association between influenza outbreaks and invasive pneumococcal infections

Andre Michael Toschke1, Stephan Arenz, Rüdiger von Kries

  • 1Institute for Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany.

Archives of Disease in Childhood
|April 5, 2007
PubMed

Insights

The annual influenza epidemic does not appear to trigger invasive pneumococcal infections (IPI) in children. Study findings indicate no link between influenza peaks and subsequent IPI peaks during winter seasons.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric infectious diseases
  • Epidemiology
  • Public health

Background:

  • Invasive pneumococcal infections (IPI) are a significant cause of childhood morbidity and mortality.
  • Influenza epidemics are known to occur during winter months.
  • The potential impact of influenza on the incidence of IPI requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if the peak of influenza A activity precedes the peak of invasive pneumococcal infections (IPI) in children.
  • To investigate the relationship between influenza epidemics and IPI incidence in a pediatric population.

Main Methods:

  • Ecological study design utilizing active surveillance data.
  • Analysis of influenza A and IPI data in children under 16 years old.
  • Data collected from German pediatric hospitals between 1997 and 2003.

Main Results:

  • No statistically significant association was found between the influenza A season and the IPI season (p = 0.49).
  • The influenza peak never preceded the IPI peak in any of the study years.
  • Influenza activity did not appear to influence the timing or magnitude of IPI peaks.

Conclusions:

  • Population-level data show no evidence that influenza epidemics trigger increased rates or peaks of IPI in children.
  • The findings suggest that influenza and IPI epidemics may have independent seasonal patterns in this pediatric cohort.
  • Further research could explore other potential co-factors influencing IPI incidence during winter.
Abstract

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