Características clínico-epidemiológicas de un brote de influenza A en personal militar de Trujillo, Perú 2008

we describe an acute febrile respiratory infection outbreak in a military unit in trujillo, peru. cases were identified using the influenza like illness (ili) definition of the ministry of health. nasal swab samples used for a rapid influenza test (rit) and pharyngeal swab samples for viral isolation were taken. for influenza a, genotyping of a partial sequence of the hemagglutinin region was performed. the rate attack was 82.9%. fifty-nine cases appeared between april 1 and 8, 2008; 58 came from the military unit (mu) #1 and one from the mu #2. the rit identified 40 cases of influenza a and 43 cases were confirmed through cell culture. isolations were genetically similar to the a h1n1 brisbane strain. early detection of outbreaks in confined locations such as military bases permits immediate action in preventing disease propagation.