Sudan: A Story of Success Transitioning Shift Flu Program to One Health approach, 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56147/jbhs.2.2.20Keywords:
- Surveillance,
- One health,
- Influenza,
- covid-19
Abstract
Background: The world focused attention toward influenza surveillance after emergence a novel strain of influenza virus A (H1N1) in April 2009. In 2013, a surveillance system for influenza (SARI-ILI) and virologic data was established in Khartoum, Sudan. The Director General of the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic as a public health emergency of international concern and on March 11, 2020. The main objective for this study reviews a story of success shift from influenza surveillance to one health respiratory viruses’ surveillance.
Method: Across sectional study using national influenza data was conducted and review the guidelines and records well done by technical committee for transition from influenza system to using concept of one health in the in the system. Patient samples were collected and a questionnaire for clinical and demographic variables were administered from all patients that meeting the SARI case definition. Data cleaning was done including PCR result as the main variable and analysis used Microsoft excel to descriptive analysis.
Result: In the surveillance system, a shift was made from the influenza surveillance system to influenza and other respiratory viruses, including Covid. The standard definition of SARI and ILI has been updated, based on the definition of the World Health Organization. In the laboratory pillar, develop testing strategy to include other respiratory viruses. The system involved coordinating between relevant sectors in the aspect of preparedness, early detection, investigation, response and laboratory through one health approach. The number of samples collected by sentinel sites were 236, including seven positive cases of Covid-19 and two cases of influenza positive.
Conclusions: Influenza surveillance shift to influenza and other respiratory viruses using one health approach and address different pillars (preparedness, detection, response and laboratory) applied new system in the influenza sentinel sites, after started the collected 236 samples of these, 7 cases of COVID-19 and 2 of them flu.
