Since the 2023-2024 season, RespiVirNet (previously Influnet) has become the national epidemiological and virological surveillance system for influenza and other respiratory viruses. The surveillance activities are coordinated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The main focus of influenza virological surveillance is the identification of different virus types/subtypes circulating during the season, in order to participate in the update of the annual influenza vaccine composition. Moreover, RespiVirNet virologic surveillance has been improved to monitor the spread and circulation of other respiratory viruses in the population, such as SARS-CoV-2, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Rhinoviruses, Parainfluenza viruses, Adenoviruses, Metapneumoviruses, Bocaviruses and human Coronaviruses other than SARS-CoV -2.
Virological surveillance activities are coordinated and carried out by the National Influenza Center (NIC) of the ISS, in cooperation with a network of regional laboratories (RespiVirNet), scattered across the country, within the WHO/GISRS (Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System) Programs and the European network coordinated by ECDC. Virological analyses on the collected biological samples are carried out by the laboratory network and by the NIC. Furthermore, the NIC analyzes all the data collected at a national level and publishes a weekly report.
The RespiVirNet weekly reports (previously InfluNet) are published on this page.
