Trend of Influenza Like Illness in Shiro Meda Health Center Sentinel Site, 2013 to 2017, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2018

Introduction: Influenza is a respiratory illness caused by influenza virus that can spread very easily from person to person. The virus is spread through the air by the exchange of fluid droplets from the mouth or nose of one person to another person due to sneezing and coughing. The manifestations of illness (fever, cough, sore throat) caused by the influenza virus are usually mild to moderate but for some it could be severe, leading to hospitalization and even death. In Ethiopia, influenza sentinel surveillance has been launched in 2008 with one ILI sentinel site (Shiromeda Health Center) and one SARI sentinel site (Yekatit 12 Hosp). Ongoing analysis of surveillance data is important for detecting outbreaks and unexpected increases or decreases in disease occurrence, monitoring disease trends, and evaluating the effectiveness of disease control programs and policies. This trend analysis was conducted to characterize ILI cases in person, place and time, determine the positivity rate of the sentinel site and put possible recommendations based on the findings. Methods: We reviewed five years Influenza (2013 to 2017) data of Shiro meda health center. Data was cleaned prior to analysis. Descriptive analysis by person, place and time was done using Microsoft excel 2013. Results displayed using narration, graphs and tables. Results: A total of 1,489 cases of Influenza like illness reported from Shiro meda health center for the last five years, of which 950 (64%0 were females and the remaining 539 (46%) were males. Out of the total reported cases, 98% were from Gullele sub-city. The most affected age group was 15-44 (49%) followed by 5-14 (32%). The positivity rate of the site was 30.31%. Of those positive cases for Influenza, 20% were Influenza type A and the remaining were Influenza type B. Some important characteristics of patients are missing. Conclusion: Almost all of the cases were reported from Gullele sub-city. The most affected age group was 15-44 followed by 5-14. Influenza type A and B are circulating in the sentinnel site. Regular data analysis and supevision is required to improve the quality of data produced in the sentinnel site.