The comparative efficacy of chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Kampala, Uganda

Chloroquine (CQ) remains the first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria in much of Africa despite the growing problem of resistance to this drug. Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is often used after CQ treatment failure and has replaced CQ as the first-line treatment in parts of Africa. To compare the efficacy of these 2 regimens, we evaluated, in March-August 1999, clinical and parasitological responses over 28 days in 214 children and adults from Kampala, Uganda, with uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Compared to SP, significantly more patients treated with CQ developed early or late clinical failure (54% vs 11%, P < 0.001) and parasitological failure (72% vs 30%, P < 0.001) during 14 days of follow-up. The risk of treatment failure occurring after day 14 was similar between the 2 treatment groups. Among those treated with CQ, children aged < 5 years were at higher risk of clinical failure than older individuals (76% vs 28%, P < 0.001), an association not seen with SP (11% vs 10%, P = 0.91). Although early parasite clearance was significantly better in the SP group (P = 0.001), fever clearance at day 3 was the same (CQ 85%, SP 86%). These and other recent findings suggest that consideration be given to replacing CQ as the first-line therapy for uncomplicated malaria in Uganda, particularly in young children.     

Therapeutic responses to antibacterial drugs in vivax malaria.

Some antibacterial drugs have antimalarial activity that can be exploited for the prevention or treatment of malaria. Monotherapy with tetracycline, doxycycline, clindamycin or azithromycin was assessed in 1995-98 in 92 adult patients in Thailand with Plasmodium vivax malaria. All patients recovered following treatment and the early therapeutic responses were similar among the 4 groups. The overall median fever clearance time was 57 h and the mean (SD) overall time to parasite clearance was 134 (48) h. Of 66 patients who completed a 28-day follow-up, reappearances of vivax infection occurred in 27 patients (41%) from all groups; delayed appearances of falciparum malaria occurred in 6 patients (9%), only from the azithromycin group. The overall mean (SD) time to reappearance of P. vivax was 23 (5) days and time taken for detection of falciparum malaria was 13 (4) days after starting treatment for vivax malaria. The 28-day cumulative cure rates of clindamycin (n = 12), tetracycline (n = 18) and doxycycline (n = 18) groups were similar (P > or = 0.14) and all were significantly higher compared to the azithromycin group (n = 18; P < or = 0.04). The intervals until vivax reappearance were also significantly shorter in the azithromycin group [mean (SD) = 21 (6) vs 25 (3) days, P < 0.05] suggesting that some of these were recrudescences. The apparent success rate (no subsequent appearances of either vivax or falciparum infection) was significantly lower for the azithromycin group (11%) compared to the other groups (34-78%; P < 0.01). In current antibacterial treatment regimens, short-course azithromycin has inferior antimalarial activity compared to clindamycin or the tetracyclines.     

Effectiveness of melarsoprol and eflornithine as first-line regimens for gambiense sleeping sickness in nine Médecins Sans Frontières programmes

This paper describes the effectiveness of first-line regimens for stage 2 human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infection in nine Médecins Sans Frontières HAT treatment programmes in Angola, Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda. Regimens included eflornithine and standard- and short-course melarsoprol. Outcomes for 10461 na?ve stage 2 patients fitting a standardised case definition and allocated to one of the above regimens were analysed by intention-to-treat analysis. Effectiveness was quantified by the case fatality rate (CFR) during treatment, the proportion probably and definitely cured and the Kaplan-Meier probability of relapse-free survival at 12 months and 24 months post admission. The CFR was similar for the standard- and short-course melarsoprol regimens (4.9% and 4.2%, respectively). The CFR for eflornithine was 1.2%. Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities varied from 71.4-91.8% at 1 year and 56.5-87.9% at 2 years for standard-course melarsoprol, to 73.0-91.1% at 1 year for short-course melarsoprol, and 79.9-97.4% at 1 year and 68.6-93.7% at 2 years for eflornithine. With the exception of one programme, survival at 12 months was >90% for eflornithine, whilst for melarsoprol it was <90% except in two sites. Eflornithine is recommended where feasible, especially in areas with low melarsoprol effectiveness.     

Back-calculation and projection of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among homosexual/bisexual men in three European countries: Evalution of past projections and updates allowing for treatment effects

This study critically evaluates the quality of 1990 back-calculations and long-term projections of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for homosexual/bisexual men in France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the UK. The projection captured the general pattern observed in all three countries although the observed AIDS incidence peaked 2-3 years later and declined faster than had been projected. Total AIDS incidences from 1989 to 2000 were overestimated by 38.5% in France, and underestimated by 23.9 and 17.5% in western Germany and the UK. Updated back-calculations and projections to 2020 use AIDS incidence data up to 2000. The procedure incorporates an asymmetric long-tailed cumulative HIV curve as well as the increase in the median incubation period brought about by new therapies introduced during the 1990s. The results suggest that: (i) The rapid decrease in cases during the late 1990s was caused by a median incubation period that increased from 10 years to 21-23 years by the late 1990s. (ii) An imminent bottoming out followed by a protracted increase in AIDS cases from 2000 to at least 2010 could be the consequence of a leveling off of the median incubation period. (iii) A low variant of the projections shows that at least 40,000 homosexual men could develop AIDS in the three countries after 2000.     

Rate of fat gain is faster in girls undergoing early adiposity rebound

OBJECTIVE: To determine the changes in body composition (fat and lean mass) occurring in children during adiposity rebound (AR). RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Thirty-nine girls, 3 to 6 years of age at baseline, underwent yearly DXA scans for 2 years. An additional DXA scan was obtained 4 to 5 years after baseline. Age at AR was determined by modeling, and the velocity of change in height, weight, fat mass, and lean mass was estimated for each child using random coefficient models. Girls with an AR <5 years of age were classified as having an early AR, and those having an AR > or =5 years were classified as late AR. RESULTS: Although body composition was similar at age 5, by age 9, girls with an early AR were significantly taller (3.5% more) and heavier (14.4%), with greater fat mass (50%) and percentage body fat (27%) than girls with a later AR. In addition, more girls were overweight according to BMI (18% vs. 6%) or percentage body fat (29% vs. 11%) at this time, despite no differences at baseline. Annual velocity of fat mass gain was over 2-fold higher in early compared with late rebounders (17.1% vs. 6.5%, p < 0.0001), with no difference in lean mass velocity (13.1% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.116). DISCUSSION: Differences in BMI during AR were caused specifically by alterations in body fat and not by alterations in lean mass or height. Children undergoing early AR gained fat at a faster rate than children who rebounded at a later age.     

Predictors of immune recovery and the association with late mortality while on antiretroviral treatment in Cambodia

The objectives of this study were to examine the association of the on-treatment CD4 cell count with late mortality (after >6 months of antiretroviral treatment [ART]) and to identify the determinants of the long-term CD4 cell count evolution after treatment initiation. We conducted a retrospective analysis including all antiretroviral (ARV)-naïve adults initiating ART in a tertiary hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 2003-2010. We used Cox proportional hazards modelling (mortality analysis), including time-updated CD4 counts, and mixed-effects modelling (CD4 response over time). Overall, 2840 patients were included (47% male, median age: 34 years, median baseline CD4 count: 78 cells/μL). The median time on ART was 2.5 years (IQR 1.1-4.3); 71 patients died after >6 months of ART. The baseline CD4 count was the main determinant of the on-treatment CD4 cell count. Time-updated CD4 cell counts was the strongest determinant of late mortality with a HR of 0.32 (95% CI 0.16-0.63) and 0.29 (95% CI 0.11-0.71) for CD4 values of 200-350 cells/μL and 350-500 cells/μL respectively. We conclude that baseline CD4 counts strongly determine the long-term immune recovery, which critically affects late mortality. This calls for increased efforts for early ART initiation and availability of CD4 count testing in low-income countries.     

142例农村艾滋病病毒感染者/艾滋病患者免费抗病毒治疗效果及生存分析

目的 了解艾滋病病毒感染者/艾滋病患者(HIV/AIDS)接受国家免费抗病毒治疗后的依从性、免疫学变化和生存情况.方法 选择闻喜县2004年7月1日至2006年底所有纳入免费抗病毒治疗项目,且年满18周岁的HIV/AIDS纳入研究分析,所有患者在治疗前和治疗后的第0.5、1、2、3、6、9……个月均接受相关流行病学调查和实验室检查,监测服药依从性、CD4+T淋巴细胞计数变化和生存情况等.结果 病例平均随访时间为16.5个月[四分位距(IQR):15.5～20.8个月].经抗病毒治疗前,病例CD4+T淋巴细胞计数中位数值为154个/μl[四分位距(IQR):81～212个/μl];治疗后,CD4+T淋巴细胞计数均不同程度升高,治疗初3个月增长幅度最大,从基线水平的154个/μl上升到220个/μl(P<0.001),随后增长减缓,保持在相对稳定水平.相比基线CO4+T淋巴细胞计数≥100个/μl的病例,<100个/μl的病例治疗初3个月该细胞计数增长幅度更大.病例治疗后第3、12、24个月累计生存率分别为0.94、0.88和0.87,应用Cox比例风险回归模型做多因素分析发现,控制初始治疗方案(NVP组和EFV/IDV组)变量后,与基线CD4+T淋巴细胞计数<50个/μl比较,≥50个/μl的病例存活时间更长,死亡危险比(HR)为0.21(95%CI:0.06～0.68).结论 抗病毒治疗对HIV/AIDS具有较好的免疫学治疗效果;患者治疗后生存时间与基线CD4+T淋巴细胞计数水平密切相关.     

10-12 years follow-up of highly bacillated BL/LL leprosy patients on combined chemotherapy and immunotherapy

This study reports the follow-up results of 36 highly bacillated untreated BL/LL cases who were serially allocated to three treatment groups. Group I patients received a modified WHO regimen (Rifampicin 600 mg once a month supervised, 50 mg of Clofazimine and 100 mg of Dapsone daily unsupervised) and BCG 0.1 mg per dose 6 monthly; group II patients received the same multi-drug treatment (MDT) and Mw (2 x 10(8) killed bacilli per dose) 6 monthly: group III patients received the same MDT with 0.1 ml of distilled water 6 monthly and acted as a control. Treatment was continued till smear negativity. All these three groups were comparable by their initial clinical score, bacteriological index (BI), viable bacilli as assessed by the mouse foot pad (MFP), bacillary adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content and also histologically at the time of starting treatment. All these parameters were evaluated every 6 months. The vaccines were well tolerated. All the patients in group I became smear negative by 3.5 years, in group II in 3 years whereas those in group III took 5 years. The incidence of reactions was the same in all the groups during the first 2 years, however, patients of group III (MDT + placebo) continued to have reactions up to 3 years. No viable bacilli could be detected in the local and distal sites as estimated by MFP and bacillary ATP after 12 months in both the immunotherapy groups. These could be detected in patients on MDT alone up to 24 months of therapy. Histologically patients in both the immunotherapy groups (groups I and II) showed accelerated granuloma clearance, histological upgrading and non-specific healing without granuloma formation both at the local and distal sites and this was achieved much earlier compared to the MDT + placebo group. Thus, by the addition of immunotherapy the effective treatment period of achieving bacteriological negativity could be reduced by about 40%, time period of reactions reduced by 33% and there were no reactions and/or relapses in the 10-12 years post-treatment follow-up.     

American cutaneous leishmaniasis: use of a skin test as a predictor of relapse after treatment

While relapses following clinical cure of American cutaneous leishmaniasis are frequent, no test has been described until now to predict such relapses. A cohort of 318 American cutaneous leishmaniasis patients was followed up for two years after treatment with meglumine antimoniate, during which time 32 relapses occurred, 30 in the first year and two in the second (accumulated risk: 10.5%). No association was found between these relapses and the parasite-specific antibody response before and after treatment, or between the relapses and stratification by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. However when Leishmania was used as antigen, patients with a negative skin test at the time of diagnosis presented a 3.4-fold higher risk (hazard risk = 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-7.0) of American cutaneous leishmaniasis relapse, compared with patients with a positive response. This result shows that the skin test can be a predictor of American cutaneous leishmaniasis relapse after treatment.     

Impact on renal function of an early switch from conventional to liposomal amphotericin B formulation in the empirical treatment of fungal infections

OBJECTIVE: The authors had for aim to define the threshold of nephrotoxicity before switching to other antifungal treatment in hematological patients treated by conventional amphotericin B (AmB) as an empiric antifungal treatment. DESIGN: A prospective randomised multicenter study was made on 32 neutropenic hematological patients receiving conventional AmB for empirical antifungal treatment. The patients were randomised after a greater than or equal to 30% increase of serum creatinine (sCr). Patients in the early-switch group received liposomal AmB just after randomisation and patients in the late-switch group received liposomal AmB only when serum creatinine increase was greater or equal to 100% or sCr reached 170mumol/L. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were analysed: 16 patients in the early-switch group and 15 patients in the late-switch group (seven switched to liposomal AmB and eight continued conventional AmB treatment). The mean age of patients was 48 years and 68% were men. The most frequent underlying haematological malignancy was acute leukemia (94%). In the late-switch group, the degradation of renal function continued after randomisation contrary to the early-switch group: median variations of calculated sCr clearance in early- and late-switch groups were -16.8 and -1.5%, respectively (P=0.03). Moreover, an early switch was cost-effective with a sCr lower duration of hospitalisation in comparison with a late switch. CONCLUSIONS: This randomised trial suggests that an early switch to Liposomal AmB improves and preserves renal function in comparison with a late switch.     

Risk factors of morbidity and mortality in surgically treated chronic aortic valvular heart disease

A cohort of 617 patients underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) the median follow-up time was 3.4 years with a range (0-7.8) years. The incidence of early mortality was 5.0% and the five years survival (77.9 +/- 1.9)%. Risk factors of early mortality and morbidity (Low Output Syndrome) occurring the first 31 days after operation were pinpointed. Another analysis was done to estimate independent predictors of late premature death from all causes, and from specific causes (cardiac related, sudden cardiac). One of the major late morbid events was the appearance of systemic emboli. Its rate was 1.4% pats. Year. Its risk factors were presence of pure aortic regurgitation and advanced age at operation. The relative survival rate was at 5 years of 87.0% for the total cohort, but for our younger patients (age less than 30 years), we reached 99.4%. Our results suggest more aggressive measures to correct the hazard in AVR, and impose carefulness in comparing quality of AVR from different institutions for mortality and morbidity. Finally the results of AVR are rather palliative than curative except for our younger patients where we reached curability.     

Delivery of TB preventive therapy to incarcerated people living with HIV in southern African correctional facilities

TB preventive treatment (TPT) is recommended for high-risk and hard-to-reach populations such as incarcerated people living with HIV (PLHIV). To assess implementation of TPT delivery in correctional settings, we conducted an exploratory analysis of data from a multisite cohort study in South Africa and Zambia. From 975 participants, 648 were screened for TB, and 409 initiated TPT mostly within a month after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (190/409, 46.5%). We observed a median gap of one month (IQR 0.6–4.7) in TPT delivery to incarcerated PLHIV. Future research should examine standardised quality improvement tools and new strategies such as short-course regimens to improve TPT initiation in this population.     

Azathioprine for prevention of postoperative recurrence in Crohn's disease

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that can involve any portion of the gastrointestinal tract. Up to 74% of patients require surgery. However, although resective surgery improves the clinical situation, relapses is frequent in most cases. THE AIM of this clinical trial was to evaluate the profile of patient who received AZA after surgical treatment in order to prevent postoperative recurrence. METHODS: This was a retrospective study including 17 patients with severe Crohn's disease attending our gastrointestinal unit from September 1998 to June 2004. Patients were eligible if they have severe Crohn's disease, undergoing curative surgical treatment and received azathioprine for the first time after surgery to prevent postoperative recurrence. RESULTS: The study population comprised 17 patients with Crohn's disease (10 men and 7 women; mean age, 27 years). The Crohn's disease was ileo-colic in 10 cases with perineal manifestations for 2 patients and ileal in 7 cases. The indications for surgery were stenosis in 10 cases, fistula in 5 cases, perforation in 1 case and corticosteroid-resistance in 1 case. The median following-up period was 40 months (9-80 months). During this period, only 1 patient reported severe adverse event and discontinued treatment due to acute pancreatitis. 1 patient was lost to follow-up and 3 patients had moderate clinical relapse. Maintained remission was obtained for 12 patients. None of our patients had surgical relapse. CONCLUSION: The result of this study shows the effect of Azathioprine in preventing both clinical and surgical relapses in patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone surgery.     

Effectiveness of standard short-course chemotherapy for treating tuberculosis and the impact of drug resistance on its outcome

Background Treating tuberculosis (TB) with short-course chemotherapy is recommended by the World Health Organization tuberculosis program and is one of the five packages of directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) strategy. Objectives To investigate the effectiveness of short-course chemotherapy for treating new and retreatment TB patients and to assess the impact of drug resistance on its outcomes. Search strategy and selection criteria Published studies from the electronic databases such as Cochrane Library, DARE, Medline, Embase, Current Contents, CINAHL, Expanded Academic Index, PsycInfo, AustHealth and unpublished studies from Dissertation Abstract International, Index to These, Cochrane Reviewer Handbook were searched between 1993-2002. Studies addressing the treatment of patients with short-course regimen and the association between drug resistance and treatment outcomes were included. Two reviewers independently assessed study quality and extracted data. Results and discussion Eleven cohort studies met the inclusion criteria. Treatment with 6-month daily regimens was effective for new TB patients with success rate (percentage of cure cases and treatment completed cases) of over 80%. Implementation of 100% directly observed treatment was necessary to achieve over 80% treatment success in new cases treated with the intermittent regimen. The intermittent regimens did not work effectively for retreatment cases since success rate was only 68.5% even in the setting using 100% directly observed treatment in Peru. Short-course regimens were effective against drug-sensitive TB with the success rate of 87%; ineffective for patients with multi-drug resistance (rate of treatment failure in new cases ranged 22.3%-35.5% and rate of treatment failure in retreatment cases ranged 16.3-37.1%). Drug resistance had a negative impact on the outcome of short-course therapy and multi-drug resistance had a huge negative impact on the effectiveness of chemotherapy for TB. Conclusion The evidence suggests that the World Health Organization-targeted cure rate of 85% in new smear-positive TB cases is not achievable using the intermittent regimen and the target rate should be adjusted. DOTS-plus multi-drug resistant TB program of the world Health Organization should be adopted. However, the evidence is limited and the level of evidence was III-2.     

Modeling the incubation period of inhalational anthrax.

Ever since the pioneering work of Philip Sartwell, the incubation period distribution for infectious diseases is most often modeled using a lognormal distribution. Theoretical models based on underlying disease mechanisms in the host are less well developed. This article modifies a theoretical model originally developed by Brookmeyer and others for the inhalational anthrax incubation period distribution in humans by using a more accurate distribution to represent the in vivo bacterial growth phase and by extending the model to represent the time from exposure to death, thereby allowing the model to be fit to nonhuman primate time-to-death data. The resulting incubation period distribution and the dose dependence of the median incubation period are in good agreement with human data from the 1979 accidental atmospheric anthrax release in Sverdlovsk, Russia, and limited nonhuman primate data. The median incubation period for the Sverdlovsk victims is 9.05 (95% confidence interval = 8.0-10.3) days, shorter than previous estimates, and it is predicted to drop to less than 2.5 days at doses above 10(6) spores. The incubation period distribution is important because the left tail determines the time at which clinical diagnosis or syndromic surveillance systems might first detect an anthrax outbreak based on early symptomatic cases, the entire distribution determines the efficacy of medical intervention-which is determined by the speed of the prophylaxis campaign relative to the incubation period-and the right tail of the distribution influences the recommended duration for antibiotic treatment.     

Trajectories of injection drug use over 20 years (1988-2008) in Baltimore, Maryland

The objective of this study was to identify longitudinal patterns of injection drug use over 20 years in the AIDS Linked to the Intravenous Experience (ALIVE) Study, a community-based cohort of injection drug users (IDUs) in Baltimore, Maryland, with a focus on injection cessation. Starting in 1988, persons over 18 years of age with a history of injection drug use were recruited into the study. Participants provided information on their injection drug use semiannually through 2008. The analysis was restricted to 1,716 IDUs with at least 8 study visits. Finite mixture models were used to identify trajectories and predictors of injection patterns over time. The mean age of participants was 35 years; 75% were male, and 95% were African-American. Five distinct patterns were identified: 2 usage patterns (32% engaged in persistent injection and 16% had frequent relapse) and 3 cessation patterns (early cessation (19%), delayed cessation (16%), and late cessation (18%)). A history of drug treatment, no recent use of multiple substances, and less frequent injection distinguished the early cessation group from the other groups. This study demonstrated multiple trajectories of drug injection behaviors, with a substantial proportion of IDUs stopping injection over extended time frames. For maximum effectiveness, public health programs for IDUs should be long-term, comprehensive, and targeted toward individual patterns of use.     

Occupational carbon monoxide poisoning among West Virginia workers' compensation claims: diagnosis, treatment duration, and utilization

Incidence rates and characterizations of occupational carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in terms of sources of exposures, diagnosis, treatment, and health care utilization are critical for public health planning. We identified 182 CO poisoning cases occurring over a 6-year period (IR = 4.3/100000 worker-years) in the West Virginia workers' compensation data. Frequent sources of poisoning were gas-powered engines (28%) and furnaces (20%). Minimum treatment duration ranged from 1 day to 8 years with significant differences in mental health comorbidities between cases treated within 1 year compared with cases treated for more than 1 year (OR = 20.75; 95% CI = 3.5-128.4). The average cost (medical and wage loss replacement) for CO claims was dollars 2130 and median lost time was 45 days. CO poisoning could lead to prolonged disability and treatment in patients with mental health comorbidities, suggesting a possible role for early intervention.     

更昔洛韦联合卡介菌多糖核酸治疗带状疱疹疗效观察

目的 探讨更昔洛韦联合卡介菌多糖核酸治疗带状疱疹的临床疗效.方法 将86例带状疱疹患者按随机数字表法分为观察组和对照组,每组43例.对照组单纯应用更昔洛韦治疗;观察组在此基础上联合应用卡介菌多糖核酸治疗,观察并比较两组疗效、修复皮肤损害(止疱、结痂)时间和疼痛缓解时间、后遗神经痛发生率和不良反应情况.结果 两组患者均顺利完成治疗,没有因为无法耐受药物而退出者.观察组止疱、结痂和疼痛缓解时间均较对照组明显缩短,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);后遗神经痛发生率明显低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);治疗14 d后观察组有效率为90.7%(39/43),与对照组的74.4%(32/43)比较差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);两组均无严重不良反应发生.结论 更昔洛韦联合卡介菌多糖核酸治疗带状疱疹疗效确切,安全可行.     

Comparison of severely ill patients with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods in Singapore

Background/objectivesSingapore is a tropical country with influenza seasons occurring bi-annually. We compared the profile of severely ill patients with laboratory confirmed influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection in Singapore during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, and studied their risk factors associated with mortality.Patients/methodsThree periods were defined for this study; pandemic period from 18 June to 29 August 2009, early post-pandemic period from 30 August 2009 to 12 February 2010, and late post-pandemic period from 13 February to 10 August 2010.ResultsA total of 172 severely ill patients were admitted to hospitals from 18 June 2009 to 10 August 2010, of whom 23.8% died. The median age in the late post-pandemic period was significantly older than that in the early post-pandemic period (52 years versus 35 years, P = 0.02). The median age of patients who died was significantly older than those who survived (52 years versus 44 years, P < 0.01). The median length of stay under intensive care in the late post-pandemic period was twice that in the early post-pandemic (6 days versus 3 days, P = 0.045). The proportion who died in the late post-pandemic period was more than 2.5 times that in the early post-pandemic period (29.8% versus 11.1%, P = 0.043).ConclusionsSeverely ill patients were of older age in the late post-pandemic period. Older age was also significantly associated with mortality. It is important to maintain heightened vigilance and continue the surveillance of severely ill patients with influenza post-pandemic, so that patients with suspected infections could be promptly identified for early diagnosis and treatment.