[Adequacy of the term "influenza" in disease reporting]

To evaluate the real incidence rate of influenza in our community, we have assessed all those illnesses considered to be influenza-like in a population of 2,700 persons in Cordoba during a 7 month period (December 1986-June 1987). A complete clinical, virological and serological evaluation was carried out in 31 of the first 51 cases. Of these, 15 had positive serological tests for influenza A or B viruses and 4 for the other viruses. In none of the cases the isolation of influenza virus was achieved after cell culture of the pharyngeal exudate. The observed incidence rate in our study, on the basis of predefined clinical criteria, was 1.8%. This was significantly lower (p less than 0.001) than the rate of reported influenza cases in the province (11.6%). It was concluded that the expression "influenza-like syndrome" should be substituted for "influenza" in the official reportings of this disease, which, on the other hand, should always be carried out following strict clinical criteria.