Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.

<h4>Background</h4>A common pattern emerging from several studies evaluating the impact of the 2009 A/H1N1 pandemic influenza (A/H1N1pdm) conducted in countries worldwide is the low attack rate observed in elderly compared to that observed in children and young adults. The biological or...

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Autores principales: Stefano Merler, Marco Ajelli, Barbara Camilloni, Simona Puzelli, Antonino Bella, Maria Cristina Rota, Alberto Eugenio Tozzi, Maurizio Muraca, Marcello Meledandri, Anna Maria Iorio, Isabella Donatelli, Caterina Rizzo
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:0e7360933c7146209ee5ae8e63cdee3c2021-11-18T08:52:09ZPandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0074785https://doaj.org/article/0e7360933c7146209ee5ae8e63cdee3c2013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24116010/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>A common pattern emerging from several studies evaluating the impact of the 2009 A/H1N1 pandemic influenza (A/H1N1pdm) conducted in countries worldwide is the low attack rate observed in elderly compared to that observed in children and young adults. The biological or social mechanisms responsible for the observed age-specific risk of infection are still to be deeply investigated.<h4>Methods</h4>The level of immunity against the A/H1N1pdm in pre and post pandemic sera was determined using left over sera taken for diagnostic purposes or routine ascertainment obtained from clinical laboratories. The antibody titres were measured by the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. To investigate whether certain age groups had higher risk of infection the presence of protective antibody (≥1∶40), was calculated using exact binomial 95% CI on both pre- and post- pandemic serological data in the age groups considered. To estimate age-specific susceptibility to infection we used an age-structured SEIR model.<h4>Results</h4>By comparing pre- and post-pandemic serological data in Italy we found age- specific attack rates similar to those observed in other countries. Cumulative attack rate at the end of the first A/H1N1pdm season in Italy was estimated to be 16.3% (95% CI 9.4%-23.1%). Modeling results allow ruling out the hypothesis that only age-specific characteristics of the contact network and levels of pre-pandemic immunity are responsible for the observed age-specific risk of infection. This means that age-specific susceptibility to infection, suspected to play an important role in the pandemic, was not only determined by pre-pandemic levels of H1N1pdm antibody measured by HI.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results claim for new studies to better identify the biological mechanisms, which might have determined the observed pattern of susceptibility with age. Moreover, our results highlight the need to obtain early estimates of differential susceptibility with age in any future pandemics to obtain more reliable real time estimates of critical epidemiological parameters.Stefano MerlerMarco AjelliBarbara CamilloniSimona PuzelliAntonino BellaMaria Cristina RotaAlberto Eugenio TozziMaurizio MuracaMarcello MeledandriAnna Maria IorioIsabella DonatelliCaterina RizzoPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 10, p e74785 (2013)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Stefano Merler
Marco Ajelli
Barbara Camilloni
Simona Puzelli
Antonino Bella
Maria Cristina Rota
Alberto Eugenio Tozzi
Maurizio Muraca
Marcello Meledandri
Anna Maria Iorio
Isabella Donatelli
Caterina Rizzo
Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
description <h4>Background</h4>A common pattern emerging from several studies evaluating the impact of the 2009 A/H1N1 pandemic influenza (A/H1N1pdm) conducted in countries worldwide is the low attack rate observed in elderly compared to that observed in children and young adults. The biological or social mechanisms responsible for the observed age-specific risk of infection are still to be deeply investigated.<h4>Methods</h4>The level of immunity against the A/H1N1pdm in pre and post pandemic sera was determined using left over sera taken for diagnostic purposes or routine ascertainment obtained from clinical laboratories. The antibody titres were measured by the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. To investigate whether certain age groups had higher risk of infection the presence of protective antibody (≥1∶40), was calculated using exact binomial 95% CI on both pre- and post- pandemic serological data in the age groups considered. To estimate age-specific susceptibility to infection we used an age-structured SEIR model.<h4>Results</h4>By comparing pre- and post-pandemic serological data in Italy we found age- specific attack rates similar to those observed in other countries. Cumulative attack rate at the end of the first A/H1N1pdm season in Italy was estimated to be 16.3% (95% CI 9.4%-23.1%). Modeling results allow ruling out the hypothesis that only age-specific characteristics of the contact network and levels of pre-pandemic immunity are responsible for the observed age-specific risk of infection. This means that age-specific susceptibility to infection, suspected to play an important role in the pandemic, was not only determined by pre-pandemic levels of H1N1pdm antibody measured by HI.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results claim for new studies to better identify the biological mechanisms, which might have determined the observed pattern of susceptibility with age. Moreover, our results highlight the need to obtain early estimates of differential susceptibility with age in any future pandemics to obtain more reliable real time estimates of critical epidemiological parameters.
format article
author Stefano Merler
Marco Ajelli
Barbara Camilloni
Simona Puzelli
Antonino Bella
Maria Cristina Rota
Alberto Eugenio Tozzi
Maurizio Muraca
Marcello Meledandri
Anna Maria Iorio
Isabella Donatelli
Caterina Rizzo
author_facet Stefano Merler
Marco Ajelli
Barbara Camilloni
Simona Puzelli
Antonino Bella
Maria Cristina Rota
Alberto Eugenio Tozzi
Maurizio Muraca
Marcello Meledandri
Anna Maria Iorio
Isabella Donatelli
Caterina Rizzo
author_sort Stefano Merler
title Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
title_short Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
title_full Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
title_fullStr Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
title_full_unstemmed Pandemic influenza A/H1N1pdm in Italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
title_sort pandemic influenza a/h1n1pdm in italy: age, risk and population susceptibility.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2013
url https://doaj.org/article/0e7360933c7146209ee5ae8e63cdee3c
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