Publications

two waves of pandemic influenza a(h1n1) 2009 in wales--the possible impact of media coverage on consultation rates, april-december 2009.	in the united kingdom, the influenza a(h1n1) 2009 pandemic had a distinct two-wave pattern of general practice consultations for influenza-like illness (ili). we describe the epidemiology of the influenza pandemic in wales between april and december 2009 using integrated data from a number of independent sources: gp surveillance, community virology surveillance, hospital admissions and deaths, and media enquiries monitoring. the first wave peaked in late july at 100 consultations per 100,000 gen ...	2011	21262184
circulating influenza virus, climatic factors, and acute myocardial infarction: a time series study in england and wales and hong kong.	(see the editorial commentary by finelli and chaves, on pages 1701-4.) background. previous studies identifying associations between influenza and acute cardiac events may have been confounded by climatic factors. differing seasonal patterns of influenza activity in hong kong and england and wales provide a natural experiment to examine associations with myocardial infarction (mi) independent of cold weather effects. methods. weekly clinical and laboratory influenza surveillance data, environmen ...	2011	21606529
triaging for adult critical care in the event of overwhelming need.	predictions of the need for critical care within the h1n1 influenza pandemic suggested overwhelming need beyond potential resources, necessitating rationing of care via triaging.	2010	20349037
assessing the role of contact tracing in a suspected h7n2 influenza a outbreak in humans in wales.	the detailed analysis of an outbreak database has been undertaken to examine the role of contact tracing in controlling an outbreak of possible avian influenza in humans. the outbreak, initiating from the purchase of infected domestic poultry, occurred in north wales during may and june 2007. during this outbreak, extensive contact tracing was carried out. following contact tracing, cases and contacts believed to be at risk of infection were given treatment/prophylaxis.	2010	20509927
three years of low influenza activity--no reason for complacency.	influenza activity in england and wales has been unusually low over the last three years. despite this, substantial morbidity and mortality has occurred in subgroups of the population. furthermore, the influenza season 2001/02 was characterised by the emergence of a new subtype of the influenza a virus (h1n2), a timely reminder that it is not possible to assess the impact of a change in the virus strains circulating without having a comprehensive surveillance infrastructure in place.	2003	12889292
influenza activity in england, wales, and scotland.		1998	9476419
influenza activity in england and wales remains low.		1998	9549169
influenza surveillance in england and wales: october 1996 to june 1997.	this report summarises information collected for the surveillance of influenza in england and wales during the winter of 1996/97. consultations for 'influenza and influenza-like illness' with sentinel general practitioners in england and wales began to increase towards the end of november and peaked at the start of january. in england, consultations for 'aggregated respiratory disease' (ard) began to increase a little earlier, perhaps as a result of increased respiratory syncytial virus activity ...	1997	9447787
influenza activity in england and wales.		1997	9447789
influenza surveillance in england and wales: october 1995 to june 1996.	this report summarises information collected for the surveillance of influenza virus infection in england and wales from october 1995 to june 1996 (weeks 40/95 to 25/96). total respiratory disease' activity, as reported by the birmingham research unit of the royal college of general practitioners, rose to peaks in weeks 48/95, 51/95, and 01/96. the first peak coincided with a peak in "influenza and flu-like illness'. the subsequent peaks were accounted for by an increase in reports of acute bron ...	1996	8972979
the prediction of epidemics of respiratory infection.	experience from 25 years of clinical monitoring of influenza and related illnesses has been considered in relation to the prediction of epidemics of influenza. the monitoring has taken place in a network of sentinel practices in england and wales who report new episodes of illness weekly as they occur. the practice data are aggregated at the birmingham research unit of the royal college of general practitioners and weekly rates per 100,000 population are published in age-specific groups. major e ...	1994	7843362
seroepidemiological study of respiratory virus infections among dental surgeons.	sera were collected from 50 practising dental surgeons and 50 control subjects matched for age (+/- 1 year) and sex. each participant completed a questionnaire including personal details and, in the case of dentists, information relating to protective work-wear and other cross-infection control measures employed within the surgery. the sera were examined by complement fixation tests for antibodies to influenza a, influenza b, respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus. the dental group had a sig ...	1994	8186035
influenza surveillance in england and wales: november 1991-june 1992.		1992	1285133
influenza update.		1992	1285173
virological surveillance of influenza a.		1992	1285178
schizophrenia following pre-natal exposure to influenza epidemics between 1939 and 1960.	we examined the relationship between the dates of births of schizophrenic patients admitted to hospitals for the first time in england and wales between 1970 and 1979, and the occurrence of influenza epidemics between 1939 and 1960. our results indicate that exposure to influenza epidemics between the third and seventh month of gestation is associated with schizophrenia in adult life. the hypothesis that maternal viral infection is an important cause of schizophrenia can explain many aspects of ...	1992	1294066
influenza surveillance.		1991	1669817
influenza activity.		1991	1669896
influenza a and meningococcal disease.	there are several anecdotal accounts of the association between outbreaks of influenza and meningococcal disease. the exceptional increase in the number of cases of meningococcal infection 2 weeks after an influenza a outbreak in england and wales during november and december, 1989, provided an opportunity to investigate the relation between the two events. patients with meningococcal disease in december, 1989, were more likely than age-matched controls to show serological evidence of recent inf ...	1991	1678811
epidemic mechanisms of type a influenza.	the antigenic varieties of influenza a virus isolated from 1968 to 1976 in a surveillance of a small, rather remote population were similar to those from england and wales as a whole, despite frequent antigenic changes during the period. household studies in the first two h3n2 influenza a epidemics found low attack rates within households, a high proportion (70%) of affected households with only one case of influenza, similar distributions of affected households in the two epidemics by the numbe ...	1979	458138