Rates of student absenteeism in schools have been mainly used to detect outbreaks in schools and prompt public health action to stop local transmission. A report by Kim Mogto et al. stated that aggregated counts of school absenteeism (SAi) were correlated with PPFluA, but the sample may have been biased. The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between aggregated rates of SAi and PPFluA for two cities, Calgary and Edmonton, in Alberta. In such situations, SAi could potentially be used as a proxy for PPFluA when there are not enough samples for stable laboratory estimates.
Objective
To assess the correlations between weekly rates of elementary school absenteeism due to illness (SAi) and percent positivity for influenza A from laboratory testing (PPFluA) when conducted at a city level from September to December over multiple years.