Preliminary results of official influenza and acute respiratory infection surveillance in two towns of Burkina Faso, 2013–2015

BACKGROUND: In 2010, influenza, influenza-like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) surveillance was established by the government of Burkina Faso. We provide preliminary descriptive results from this surveillance activity. METHODS: The study period was 2013 through 2015. Two primary healthcare facilities in Bobo-Dioulasso district reported ILI in outpatients. Influenza virology, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), was available for a proportion of ILI patients. One hospital, in the capital Ouagadougou, reported ARI in both outpatients and inpatients (hospitalized). Inpatients admitted with ARI were considered severe ARI (SARI). We estimated the proportion of primary care outpatient visits that were ILI, and the proportion of those that were due to influenza, by age. We estimated the proportion of hospital outpatient visits that were ARI and the proportion of those that were SARI, by age. RESULTS: Among combined outpatient visits in the Bobo-Dioulasso facilities, 19.6% were for ILI. One half (49.9%) of outpatient visits in infants and 30.9% in 1-4 year-olds were ILI. Among ILI outpatient visits 14.8% were due to influenza virus and, of these, 58.5% were type A and 41.5% type B. At the Ouagadougou hospital, 6.7% of outpatient visits were ARI, and 22.3% of those were SARI. The highest proportions of ARI were among infants (19.8%) and 1-4 year-olds (16.0%). The proportion of ARI that was SARI was highest among ≥15 year-olds (31.5%) followed by 1-4 year-olds (22.4%). Overall, 4.1% of SARI patients died. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data indicate the importance of respiratory infections among health care attendances in Burkina Faso, and influenza may be an important contributor to these.