Infokiri

To:         Operational Contact Points for Influenza, National Focal Points for Viral Respiratory Diseases

CC:         National Coordinators

Dear colleagues,

We would like to inform you of a minor change in the way WHO/Euro transfers data to WHO HQ related to the Intensity and PISA_Transmissibility variables in INFLCLIN. This email is for information, please continue to report data to these variables in the same way as you have been for the rest of this winter period.

For countries that have not reported any data to PISA_Transmissibility during the 2023/24 season, WHO/Euro will use influenza intensity data (submitted to INFLCIN via the variable Intensity) for the PISA influenza transmissibility indicator weekly data feed to WHO HQ. This will start as per this week’s data transfer and will apply retrospectively for the 2023/24 season. As both variables have five ordinal levels (though some categories have differences in naming) and data will be mapped across accordingly. For countries that have submitted data to PISA_Transmissibility in INFCLIN, these data will continue to be transferred to WHO HQ. Please note that currently PISA transmissibility is not visualized on either ERVISS or global platforms.

We plan to further review and streamline the qualitative indicators before the start of the next winter period.  Please contact ecdc.influenza@ecdc.europa.eu or euinfluenza@who.int should you have any questions.

Kind regards,

The ECDC and WHO-Europe surveillance teams