Vigilancia de virus respiratorios. Temporada 2004

Abstract

The behavior of respiratory viruses changes from year to year in regard to the magnitude, duration and date of start of the outbreaks. This is particularly so in the case of SRV and of influenza. Surveillance programs allow us to to observe these patterns, the awareness of which is useful both for daily clinical practice and for public health decisions. In the current year the influenza outbreak started two months earlier than expected and the incidence was higher than in previous years. The SRV outbreak has been the most severe one in the last six years. This paper presents the result of surveillance of the respiratory viruses in the Metropolitan Region of Chile in 2004, until and including the month of July.