Identifying potential undocumented COVID-19 using publicly reported influenza-like-illness and laboratory-confirmed influenza disease in the United States: An approach to syndromic surveillance?

Abstract

In the absence of widespread testing, syndromic surveillance approaches may be useful for understanding potential undocumented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States. We used publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention FluView Interactive to evaluate its potential for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance. Unlike the prior 3 influenza seasons, we found a 76% decrease in influenza positive tests and a 27% increase in influenza like illness during the weeks since COVID-19 outbreaks began in the United States, which suggests FluView's potential utility for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance.

Keywords: Contact tracing; Coronavirus; Influenza; SARS-CoV-2; Syndrome.