Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Kristin Greve-Isdahl Mohn, Influenza Centre, Haukeland University Hospital,
- Substitute second opponent: Professor Simon Rayner, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo,
- Third member and substitute chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Jon Michael Gran, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Jørgen Vildershøj Bjørnholt, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Siri Eldevik Håberg, Centre Director, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Summary
Influenza is associated with yearly outbreaks and poses a substantial burden on health care. The aims of this thesis were to investigate burden of influenza in primary and hospital care and to describe the age groups which are highly affected. Health registry data from both primary and hospital care was used to describe numbers and rates of influenza diagnoses in each season from 2008 to 2017.
On average, 1.7% of the population and up to five thousand patients were diagnosed with influenza in each season. The patients in primary care were younger than those who were hospitalized, and the youngest and oldest persons were found to have the highest risk of influenza hospitalization. The majority of the fatalities were found in the elderly, but fatal outcome in children was observed almost all influenza seasons.
Further, children with comorbidities were at higher risk of hospitalization with influenza. Overall, 5% of children in Norway has one or more chronic condition which includes them in the yearly influenza vaccination program. Data from hospitals indicate that these children have a six-fold risk of hospitalization with influenza. The thesis found that also children born preterm had an elevated risk of severe influenza, and the Norwegian vaccine recommendations have since been updated to also include these children.
Influenza vaccination coverage in children with risk conditions are much lower compared with adults with risk conditions. This thesis provides support for current vaccine recommendations and concludes that influenza should continue to be a public health priority.
Additional information
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