Using research to prepare for outbreaks of severe acute respiratory infection

The variability in case fatality proportions in our data set, particularly among children, in addition to patient-specific variables, is likely due to a variety of factors, including intensive care unit admission criteria, 20 the availability of interventions 21 and the presence of reporting bias in this convenience sample, particularly as it relates to the sparse data sources for BMJ Global Health acute care in lower income regions and the known disease burden in those regions. 1 The stepwise increase in mortality by age in our data set reflects this surprisingly low mortality in the <5-year-old cohort. The lack of complete severity-of-illness data from lower income regions impedes the ability to effectively understand this counterintuitive result.