In Asia, influenza type B viruses were associated with
increased
morbidity in some regions of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics
(USSR) in November and December 1981 and caused widespread illness
in
schoolchildren in Japan in February 1982 (1). Elsewhere, influenza
type B activity has been mainly sporadic, with cases reported in
Canada, Israel, and Sweden in addition to those reported earlier in
France and Switzerland (2). However, in the United Kingdom, where
outbreaks of influenza type B first occurred in December among
schoolchildren in northwest Scotland, virus activity increased
considerably in January and February. Infections have been
diagnosed
throughout the United Kingdom, and outbreaks have been confirmed
among
such groups as children in boarding schools, patients in geriatric
wards, and personnel at a military base.
Influenza type A(H1N1) viruses, reported infrequently, have
been
isolated from sporadic cases or during small outbreaks in November
and
December in Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Italy, and the USSR, in
addition
to Japan (1). Influenza type A(H3N2) viruses have been isolated
only
occasionally in Europe this winter, including those from sporadic
cases in Scotland beginning in December, in addition to those
reported
earlier in Italy and Japan (1,2). In Trinidad and Tobago, however,
an
island-wide outbreak that affected persons of all ages occurred in
the
period October-December.
Reported by V Zhdanov, MD, Director, Regional Centre for Influenza,
Moscow, USSR; PJS Hamilton, MD, Caribbean Epidemiology Centre,
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; Pan American Health Organization,
Washington,
DC; Virus Diseases Unit, World Health Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland; WHO Collaborating Center for Influenza, Viral Diseases
Div, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
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