ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2018
Revision of clinical case definitions: influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection.
Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04511429 (COVID-19 in Immunosuppressed Children), which is not on this map. Cited by 207 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
COVID-19 in Immunosuppressed Children
Who cites it
207 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 322 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disease burden of seasonal influenza in China from 2010 to 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis based on multiple indicators.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Definitions in Hospitalized Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2025Pooled it
- Characteristics of influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and RSV surveillance systems that utilise ICD-coded data: a systematic review.Journal of global health · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Understanding the Global Burden of Influenza in Adults Aged 18-64 years: A Systematic Literature Review from 2012 to 2022.Advances in therapy · 2023Pooled it
- Emergency care interventions for paediatric severe acute respiratory infections in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of acute and emergency care interventions for adolescents and adults with severe acute respiratory infections including COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries.Journal of global health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of convalescent blood products for patients with severe acute respiratory infections of viral etiology: A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Variability in published rates of influenza-associated hospitalizations: A systematic review, 2007-2018.Journal of global health · 2020Pooled it
- Immunogenicity and safety of the quadrivalent inactivated split-virion influenza vaccine in populations aged ≥ 3 years: A phase 3, randomized, double-blind, non-inferiority clinical trial.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Trial
- World Health Organization Influenza-Like Illness Underestimates the Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2022Trial
- Does C-reactive protein predict time to recovery and benefit from oseltamivir treatment in primary care patients with influenza-like illness? A randomized controlled trial secondary analysis.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2021Trial
- Trial
- High Mortality in Adults With Community-Acquired Pneumonia Admitted to Hospitals in South Africa Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Stratified by HIV Serostatus and Viral Load: Data From a Prospective Cohort Study (2019-2021).Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Epidemiological Characteristics and Evolutionary Characterization of Human Metapneumovirus in Jiaxing, China.Viruses · 2026Article
- Infection as an Exertional Heat Illness Risk Factor: A Prospective Cohort Study.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2026Article
- Causes and Contributing Factors of In-Hospital and Post-Discharge Mortality Among Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Infection in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Etiological characterization of acute respiratory tract infections and associated co-infections using Biofire respiratory 2.1 Plus panel.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Outcomes of Severe Acute Respiratory Diseases Caused by SARS-CoV-2, Influenza Virus, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus.Microorganisms · 2026Article
147 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
28 authors at 10 institutions in 9 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The formulation of accurate clinical case definitions is an integral part of an effective process of public health surveillance. Although such definitions should, ideally, be based on a standardized and fixed collection of defining criteria, they often require revision to reflect new knowledge of the condition involved and improvements in diagnostic testing. Optimal case definitions also need to have a balance of sensitivity and specificity that reflects their intended use. After the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated a technical consultation on global influenza surveillance. This prompted improvements in the sensitivity and specificity of the case definition for influenza - i.e. a respiratory disease that lacks uniquely defining symptomology. The revision process not only modified the definition of influenza-like illness, to include a simplified list of the criteria shown to be most predictive of influenza infection, but also clarified the language used for the definition, to enhance interpretability. To capture severe cases of influenza that required hospitalization, a new case definition was also developed for severe acute respiratory infection in all age groups. The new definitions have been found to capture more cases without compromising specificity. Despite the challenge still posed in the clinical separation of influenza from other respiratory infections, the global use of the new WHO case definitions should help determine global trends in the characteristics and transmission of influenza viruses and the associated disease burden.
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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.