Influenza surveillance in the Pacific island countries and territories during the 2009 pandemic: an observational study

Author: Jacobus Leen KoolBoris Igor PavlinJennie MustoAkanisi Dawainavesi
Credits/Source: BMC Infectious Diseases 2013

Historically, Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs) have been more severely affected by influenza pandemics than any other part of the world. We herein describe the emergence and epidemiologic characteristics of pandemic influenza H1N1 in PICTs from 2009 to 2010.

Methods: The World Health Organization gathered reports of influenza-like-illness and laboratory-confirmed pandemic H1N1 cases from all 23 Pacific island countries and territories, from April 2009 through August 2010.
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Conclusions: Pandemic influenza spread rapidly throughout the Pacific despite enormous distances and relative isolation. Tokelau and Pitcairn may be the only jurisdictions to have remained pandemic-free.

Despite being well-prepared, Pacific island countries and territories experienced significant morbidity and mortality, consistent with other indigenous and low-resource settings.For the first time, regional influenza-like-illness surveillance was conducted in the Pacific, allowing health authorities to monitor the pandemic's spread and severity in real-time.Future regional outbreak responses will likely benefit from the lessons learned during this outbreak.
 
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