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Disease burden associated with influenza activity at the population level
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Disease burden associated with influenza activity at the population level

Aaron C Miller, Daniel Erik Boonstra, Joseph E Cavanaugh, Constantina Boikos, Tianyan Hu, John McLaughlin, Timothy Weimken, Verna Welch and Philip M Polgreen
Epidemiology and infection, Vol.154, e53
04/06/2026
DOI: 10.1017/S0950268826101320
PMID: 41936605
Appears in  UI Libraries Support Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268826101320View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Influenza increases the risk of secondary diseases, but besides pneumonia, many of these diseases (e.g., sinusitis, otitis media, acute myocardial infarctions) are not consistently considered in estimates of influenza burden. We used the Merative Marketscan database (2001-2019) and time-series methods to identify age-specific categories of diseases that were temporally associated with patterns of influenza activity. Next, we estimated hypothetical reductions in the incidence and costs of these diseases if influenza incidence were reduced. Of 282 different disease categories evaluated, 23 (8.2%) were strongly associated with influenza (e.g., acute bronchitis, otitis media, myocardial infarctions, sinusitis, COPD) in at least one age group. For example, we estimated a 20% decrease in peak influenza incidence could decrease acute bronchitis cases by 6.5% and pneumonia cases by 5.3%, corresponding to a $1.6 billion reduction in healthcare costs. Excluding secondary diseases associated with influenza may lead to substantial underestimates of influenza’s burden and costs.
 Influenza acute bronchitis cost otitis media sinusitis UIOWA OA Agreement

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