Does Antimicrobial Prescription Data Improve Influenza Surveillance in VA?

Antimicrobial prescriptions are a new data source available to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) biosurveillance program. Little is known about whether antiviral or antibacterial prescription data correlates with influenza ICD-9-CM coded encounters. We therefore evaluated the utility and timeliness of antiviral and antibacterial utilization for influenza surveillance.