The Department of Defense Global, Laboratory-Based Influenza Surveillance Program: Technical Report on Program Methods for the 2012-2013 Influenza Season
Abstract
This report describes the Department of Defense (DoD) Global, Laboratory-Based Influenza Surveillance Program as of the end of the 2012-2013 influenza season, focusing on the program's methods for surveillance, laboratory analysis and reporting, and on scientific contributions to influenza vaccine development and influenza virology. The two main stateside-based lab components of the influenza program, working in collaboration, are the Air Force (AF) sentinel influenza surveillance program at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) and the Navy population-based respiratory disease surveillance program at the Naval Health Research Center. USAFSAM data support the DoD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization; they are used each year during strain selection for the next year's vaccine strain components. The CDC regularly requests viral isolates from USAFSAM. The AF influenza program has expanded DoD-wide participation; improved case selection and laboratory methods; improved storage, handling, shipment, and retrieval of specimens; expanded geographic presence; and increased the influenza surveillance program in conjunction with the DoD Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System and many collaborators. The AF program continues to improve the ability to rapidly identify and respond to increased respiratory disease activity by enhancing the core surveillance infrastructure. It strengthens force health protection for the military by ensuring the best vaccine is made available for U.S. forces each year, and when new influenza strains emerge, they are carefully evaluated. If emerging strains are not well covered by immunity or conferred through seasonal vaccine or prior disease, then leaders are informed and other appropriate public health measures begun.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA599690
Entities
People
- Elizabeth Macias
- Jody Noe
- Laurie Demarcus
- Shauna Zorich
- Victor Macintosh
Organizations
- United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine