WHO consultation to adapt influenza sentinel surveillance systems to include COVID-19 virological surveillance: virtual meeting, 6 – 8 October 2020

Overview

Sentinel surveillance for influenza and COVID-19 is a resource-effective approach to gathering critical information about both viral infections in patients seeking medical attention and meeting influenza surveillance case definitions. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the value of sentinel surveillance systems for providing timely information on epidemiologic and virus trends, detecting co-circulation of influenza and COVID-19 and evaluating the impact of these two diseases on health systems. Adaptation of influenza sentinel surveillance systems to include COVID-19 can guide national, regional and global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and has important public health value for influenza and COVID-19 preparedness and response.