Surveillance for seasonal influenza

ECDC collects epidemiological and virological data from the EU/EEA Member States. The surveillance data reported comes largely from sentinel influenza surveillance systems, which cover a subset of the population in each country. Some countries conduct universal influenza surveillance, meaning that all cases meeting the relevant case definition are reported. Several countries also conduct surveillance of hospitalised cases. A sample of cases is also tested to determine virus characteristics.

The weekly surveillance of seasonal influenza is complemented by epidemic intelligence activities at ECDC, which encompass monitoring of official and unofficial sources on outbreaks and other influenza-related developments.

Surveillance reports and protocols

Technical guidance

Reporting protocols provide guidelines on how to prepare data for submission to The European Surveillance System (TESSy). All pertinent deadlines are listed, and recent changes to the metadata summarised. The following reporting protocols are relevant for the reporting of seasonal influenza:

Reporting protocols

ECDC’s influenza virus characterisation reports are published periodically and give an overview of circulating influenza viruses. They provide details on the current vaccine strains, summarise the development of the viruses since the last report, and closely follow the main developments for the ongoing influenza season. 

This infographic summarises the situation in the EU Member States. It is published weekly during the influenza season.

Archive

ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe jointly published the Flu News Europe bulletin on the influenza situation in the wider European Region during the influenza transmission season  from 2014 to 2023.

The Weekly Electronic Bulletin was written by the European Influenza Surveillance Scheme Co-ordination Centre from the 2003–04 to the 2008–09 season. If you like to read the weekly electronic bulletins, please get in contact with webmaster@ecdc.europa.eu.  

Related content

EU case definitions

Case definitions for each infectious disease covered by EU surveillance, as published in the Official Journal of the European Union.