Clinical prediction of laboratory-confirmed influenza in adults with influenza-like illness in primary care. A randomized controlled trial secondary analysis in 15 European countries.
Fam Pract
; 39(3): 398-405, 2022 05 28.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34611715
Influenza is usually diagnosed clinically. However, the accuracy of a diagnosis of influenza based on clinical features is limited because symptoms overlap considerably with those caused by other microorganisms. This study examined whether identification of the severity rather than the presence of key signs and symptoms could aid in the diagnosis of influenza, thereby helping clinicians to determine when antiviral agent use is appropriate. The authors used the database of a previous randomized clinical trial on the effectiveness of an antiviral carried out in primary care centers in 15 countries in Europe during three epidemic periods from 2015/2016 to 2017/2018. Participants with influenza symptoms were included and they were asked about the presence and severity of different symptoms during the baseline visit with their doctors and a nasopharyngeal swab was taken for microbiological analysis. Overall, only 51% of the patients aged 18 or older had a confirmed influenza infection. Clinical findings are not particularly useful for confirming or excluding the diagnosis of influenza. However, the results of our study recommend considering how intense the different symptoms are, since key symptoms rated as moderate or severe are slightly better for predicting flu rather than the presence or absence of these symptoms.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Influenza, Human
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
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Diagnostic_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Fam Pract
Year:
2022
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Spain