View Original Link to view on original website
Download PDF
Share

June 16, 2016

by Wendi Jiang Eili Klein 

The problem

Coinfecting bacterial pathogens are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in influenza. However, there remains a paucity of literature on the magnitude of coinfection in influenza patients.

Method

A systematic search of MeSH, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and PubMed was performed. Studies of humans in which all individuals had laboratory confirmed influenza, and all individuals were tested for an array of common bacterial species, met inclusion criteria.

The findings

The frequency of coinfection in the published studies included in this review suggests that although providers should consider possible bacterial coinfection in all patients hospitalized with influenza, they should not assume all patients are coinfected and be sure to properly treat underlying viral processes. Further, high heterogeneity suggests additional large-scale studies are needed to better understand the etiology of influenza bacterial coinfection.
 
family farming

Give Now

Invest in a better planet for future generations. Support our work to fight drug resistance, prevent disease spillovers, and improve pandemic preparedness.

Donate

Stay Informed

Too busy to keep up with the latest scientific literature in global health? Let us summarize it for you with our weekly digest. Sign up here.