ArticleBMC infectious diseases2014
Incidence and risk factors for influenza-like-illness in the UK: online surveillance using Flusurvey.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Landscape of Participatory Surveillance Systems Across the One Health Spectrum: Systematic Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2022Pooled it
- Predisposing factors to acquisition of acute respiratory tract infections in the community: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Monitoring influenza-like symptoms in the UK through participatory surveillance: Insights from FluSurvey over two winter seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25).PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Multi-source machine learning for short-term influenza forecasting in Hunan Province, China: a spatiotemporal analysis using surveillance, search, meteorological and air-quality data.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Harnessing Participatory Surveillance Cohorts and Proxy Indicators to Dynamically Track Epidemic Trends and Undiagnosed COVID-19 Infections in Singapore: Longitudinal Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Observational
- Burden and risk factors of influenza-associated acute respiratory infections among older adults in India: a multicentric community-based surveillance (2018-2023).The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2026Article
- Influenza-like illness in cigarette smokers and electronic-cigarette users: a secondary analysis from the PAIVED study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Respiratory viral infections: when and where? A scoping review of spatiotemporal methods.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Article
- Respiratory Infections Are More Common Than Healthcare Records Indicate: Results From an Anonymous Survey.Military medicine · 2023Article
- Identifying socio-ecological drivers of common cold in Bhutan: a national surveillance data analysis.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Cross-sectional telephone surveys as a tool to study epidemiological factors and monitor seasonal influenza activity in Malta.BMC public health · 2021Article
- SARS-CoV-2 infection in London, England: changes to community point prevalence around lockdown time, March-May 2020.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2021Article
- Incidence, healthcare-seeking behaviours, antibiotic use and natural history of common infection syndromes in England: results from the Bug Watch community cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Effectiveness of a Mobile-Based Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance System (FluMob) Among Health Care Workers: Longitudinal Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Article
- Comparison of molecular testing strategies for COVID-19 control: a mathematical modelling study.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2020Article
- Grippenet: A New Tool for the Monitoring, Risk-Factor and Vaccination Coverage Analysis of Influenza-Like Illness in Switzerland.Vaccines · 2020Article
- Symbolic transfer entropy reveals the age structure of pandemic influenza transmission from high-volume influenza-like illness data.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2020Article
- Public activities preceding the onset of acute respiratory infection syndromes in adults in England - implications for the use of social distancing to control pandemic respiratory infections.Wellcome open research · 2020Article
- Respiratory virus-associated infections in HIV-infected adults admitted to the intensive care unit for acute respiratory failure: a 6-year bicenter retrospective study (Annals of intensive care · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInfluenza and Influenza-like-illness (ILI) represents a substantial public health problem, but it is difficult to measure the overall burden as many cases do not access health care. Community cohorts have the advantage of not requiring individuals to present at hospitals and surgeries and therefore can potentially monitor a wider variety of cases. This study reports on the incidence and risk factors for ILI in the UK as measured using Flusurvey, an internet-based open community cohort.
methodsUpon initial online registration participants were asked background characteristics, and every week were asked to complete a symptoms survey. We compared the representativeness of our sample to the overall population. We used two case definitions of ILI, which differed in whether fever/chills was essential. We calculated ILI incidence week by week throughout the season, and investigated risk factors associated with ever reporting ILI over the course of the season. Risk factor analysis was conducted using binomial regression.
results5943 participants joined the survey, and 4532 completed the symptoms survey at least twice. Participants who filled in symptoms surveys at least twice filled in a median of nine symptoms surveys over the course of the study. 46.1% of participants reported at least one episode of ILI, and 6.0% of all reports were positive for ILI. Females had slightly higher incidence, and individuals over 65 had the lowest incidence. Incidence peaked just before Christmas and declined dramatically during school holidays. Multivariate regression showed that, for both definitions of ILI considered, being female, unvaccinated, having underlying health issues, having contact with children, being aged between 35 and 64, and being a smoker were associated with the highest risk of reporting an ILI. The use of public transport was not associated with an increased risk of ILI.
conclusionsOur results show that internet based surveillance can be used to measure ILI and understand risk factors. Vaccination is shown to be linked to a reduced risk of reporting ILI. Taking public transport does not increase the risk of reporting ILI. Flusurvey and other participatory surveillance techniques can be used to provide reliable information to policy makers in nearly real-time.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.