INFLUENZA - UPDATE AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC SITU ATION TODAY

In the period of 1993 to 1994, influenza activity caused by circulatio n of viruses antigenically structurally related to the strain A/Beijin g/32/92 (H3N2) began in the countries of North America and West Europe in October-November 1993, by spreading to the countries of East Europ e, the Urals, and West Siberia. Epidemic events in China and in the Fa r East were evoked mainly by the influenza B virus. The influenza A (H 1N1) viruses did not widely spread. Single isolates (about 1% of all t he influenza A virus isolates, as evidenced by the CDC, Atlanta, USA) of this subtype were etiological agents of sporadic morbidity. A fourt een-year period (1977-1991) of the epidemic activity of the influenza A (H1N1) virus seems to be over. The last epidemic of the influenza A (H3N2) virus has a moderate intensity. Among all the age-group populat ions, children were largely afflicted. The highest incidence in Russia was recorded in Arkhangelsk, Barnaul, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Samara, and Smolensk where approximately 16-18% of children under 14 years of age and 3.5-5% of the population of 15 years or more fell ill. The hig hest incidence was recorded in Minsk and Vilnus too.