Clinical investigation on influenza in pediatric clinics during 2002–2003 influenza season in Fukuoka, Japan

Four pediatric clinics in Fukuoka, Japan, collected 822 cases of nasopharyngeal specimens from patients with influenza-like symptoms from 1 October 2002 to 31 March 2003. Age distribution of these cases was 6 months to 15 years old and mean age was 5.98 years old. Two hundred seventy-eight cases were positive for influenza type A(H3N2) and 176 cases for type B. When compared with virus culture, the sensitivity of the rapid detection kits for type A(H3N2) was 89.4% by nasal swab and 78.8% by throat swab, while type B testing revealed 75.7% positive by nasal swab and 78.3% by throat swab. Comparison of sensitivity of rapid detection kits to virus culture from the onset of influenza-like illness showed testing at 6 h from onset yielded the highest sensitivity (89.3%) in A(H3N2) (p