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Influenza causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Owing to its ability to rapidly evolve and spread, the influenza virus is of global public health importance. Information on the burden, seasonality and risk factors of influenza in countries of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region is emerging because of collaborative efforts between countries, WHO and its partners over the past 10 years. The fourth meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance network was held in Amman, Jordan on 11–14 December 2017. The meeting reviewed the progress and achievements reported by the countries in the areas of surveillance of and response to seasonal, zoonotic and pandemic influenza. The first scientific conference on acute respiratory infection in the Eastern Mediterranean Region was held at the same time and 38 abstracts from young researchers across the Region were presented on epidemiological and virological surveillance, outbreak detection and response, influenza at the animal-human interface, use and efficacy of new vaccines to control respiratory diseases and pandemic influenza threats. The meeting identified a number of challenges and ways to improve the quality of the surveillance system for influenza, sustain the system so as to address pandemic threats and use the data generated from the surveillance system to inform decision-making, policies and practices to reduce the burden of influenza-associated illnesses in the Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean has partnered with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen pandemic influenza preparedness and response in the Region since 2006. This partnership focuses on pandemic preparedness planning, establishing and enhancing influenza surveillance systems, improving laboratory capacity for detection of influenza viruses, estimating the influenza disease burden, and providing evidence to support policies for the introduction and increased use of seasonal influenza vaccines. Various published and unpublished data from public and WHO sources, programme indicators of the CDC cooperative agreement and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework were reviewed and analysed. Analyses and review of the programme indicators and published articles enabled us to generate information that was unavailable from only WHO sources. Most (19/22) countries of the Region have established influenza surveillance system; 16 countries in the Region have designated National Influenza Centres. The Region has seen considerable improvement in geographic coverage of influenza surveillance and influenza detection. Virus sharing has improved and almost all of the participating laboratories have achieved a 100% efficiency score in the WHO external quality assessment programme. At least seven countries have estimated their influenza disease burden using surveillance data and at least 17 are now using seasonal influenza vaccines as a control strategy for influenza illness. The Region has achieved substantial progress in surveillance and response to seasonal influenza, despite the adverse effects to the health systems of many countries due to acute and protracted emergencies and other significant challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of the introduction in 2010 of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) on the reduction in mortality from respiratory causes in children under 5 years in Morocco. Child mortality rates from respiratory cause were analysed using an interrupted time series analysis. Mortality rates from congenital and chromosomal causes were also analysed for comparative purposes. In the post-vaccination period, child mortality rates from respiratory causes decreased by 28% (Mortality rate ratio (MRR) = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.58–0.83) and by 30% in children under 1 year (MRR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50–0.98). In children aged between 1 and 5 years, the decrease in the child mortality rate was not statistically significant (MRR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.91–1.08). Mortality rates from congenital and chromosomal causes in the post-vaccination period were stable in children under 5 years (MRR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.97–1.48), in children under 1 year (MRR = 1.15, 95% CI: 0.94–1.40) and in children aged between 1 and 5 years (MRR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.97–1.48). The decrease in child mortality from respiratory causes in the post-vaccination period provides strong evidence of the effectiveness of PCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Owing to its ability to rapidly evolve and spread, the influenza virus is of global public health importance. Information on the burden, seasonality and risk factors of influenza in countries of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region is emerging because of collaborative efforts between countries, WHO and its partners over the past 10 years. The fourth meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance network was held in Amman, Jordan on 11–14 December 2017. The meeting reviewed the progress and achievements reported by the countries in the areas of surveillance of and response to seasonal, zoonotic and pandemic influenza. The first scientific conference on acute respiratory infection in the Eastern Mediterranean Region was held at the same time and 38 abstracts from young researchers across the Region were presented on epidemiological and virological surveillance, outbreak detection and response, influenza at the animal-human interface, use and efficacy of new vaccines to control respiratory diseases and pandemic influenza threats. The meeting identified a number of challenges and ways to improve the quality of the surveillance system for influenza, sustain the system so as to address pandemic threats and use the data generated from the surveillance system to inform decision-making, policies and practices to reduce the burden of influenza-associated illnesses in the Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]