science

Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System

Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System rather than just read about it. In short: The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) is a global network of laboratories that has the purpose to monitor the spread of influenza with the aim to provide the World Health Organization with influenza control information. It was established in 1952 to conduct global influenza surveillance and to inform vaccine development.

Key takeaways

Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) is a global network of laboratories that has the purpose to monitor the spread of influenza with the aim to provide the World Health Organization with influenza control information. It was established in 1952 to conduct global influenza surveillance and to inform vaccine development. GISRS is coordinated by WHO and endorsed by national governments. Several millions of respiratory specimens are tested by GISRS annually to monitor the spread and evolution of influenza viruses through a network of laboratories in 127 countries representing 91% of the world's population. As well as human viruses, GISRS monitors avian and other potentially zoonotic influenza viruses. GISRS operates FluNet, an online tool used for virological surveillance of influenza. In addition to the influenza pandemics of 1957, 1968 and 2009, GISRS has coordinated the world’s response to episodic human cases of infection with the avian influenza A(H5N1) virus since 1997, the first outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012 in some countries.

History In 1947, the WHO Interim Committee of the United Nations agreed to begin a Global Influenza Programme (GIP) for the study and control of influenza. A major outbreak of influenza in Europe was an immediate concern, as well as the identification of appropriate viruses for a vaccine against the virus strains which might be circulating. The establishment of regional influenza centers began in 1948. Five years after the creation of GIP, the Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) was established in response to a need for an influenza surveillance system to inform the methods for disease prevention and control. GISN would later be renamed Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), evolving as an integrated scientific and technical global collaboration to fulfil the objectives and activities of GIP. GISRS gained momentum between the 1957 and 1968 pandemics. The growing network of national influenza centers focused on understanding disease activity and characteristics of influenza viruses globally. Through these efforts, the realization that the viruses were not only present in tropical countries but might circulate for much of the year was confirmed.

Composition As of 2015, GISRS comprised 142 national influenza centers in 115 countries, 6 WHO collaborating centers, 4 WHO essential regulatory laboratories, and 13 WHO H5 reference laboratories.

Efficacy GISRS is considered an "effective early warning system" for changes in influenza viruses circulating in the global population, which helps mitigate the consequences of a pandemic and maintain the efficacy of seasonal influenza vaccines.

See also Global Influenza Programme Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System

In research: Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Influenza, World Health Organization, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System in simple terms?

Why does Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System.