Sahem AbujamousAyşe ARIKANEmrah GÜLERKaya SÜERTamer ŞANLIDAĞ2024-07-242024-07-2420222149-7893http://akademikarsiv.cbu.edu.tr:4000/handle/123456789/20753BACKGROUND/AIM: Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses, which is more common in the late autumn, winter and early spring of the year. We aimed to estimate the rate of seasonal influenza A and B at Near East University Hospital in Northern Cyprus and to correlate the rate of the infection with the gender and age of the patients, and by month in which the infection occurred. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nasopharyngeal swabs collected from 844 individuals with flu like symptoms who were admitted to our hospital between December 2019 and March 2020 were involved. ABON™ Influenza A&B chromatographic immunoassay was used for the qualitative detection of Influenza A and B antigens. The rate of the infections was assessed among different ages, gender and by month. RESULTS: Among 844 individuals, 234 (27.7%) were positive for either Influenza A virus or Influenza B virus. Among these infected cases, 97 (11.5%) and 137 (16.2%) were positive for influenza A and B, respectively. Influenza B was more dominant especially in children between 5–14 years of age. The major group of cases infected with Influenza A were aged 0–4 years. The difference between either Influenza A (p=0.679) or B (p=0.255) positivity and gender was not statistically significant. However, the rate of Influenza B differed by the month in which it occurred (p=0.034), peaking in February. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that the rate of Influenza B was more dominant compared to the rate of Influenza A and age is an important factor in the rate of seasonal influenza. Therefore, early identification and investigation of influenza cases is critical to control human-human transmission.engAraştırma Makalesi10.4274/cjms.2021.3502