A Systematic Review of the Epidemiology of Human Respiratory Viruses in Indonesia (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Viral pathogens greatly contribute to higher respiratory disease burden among individuals living in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). In Indonesia, influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance networks have been established to better understand the epidemiology of viral respiratory disease; however, due to limited resources and operational capacity, data from these systems are sparse. Here, we summarize the results of a literature review conducted to identify published articles related to human respiratory viruses in Indonesia. We identified 66 scientific articles, published between 1998 and 2021. Of these, 21 (31.8%) studied influenza A or B, 17 (25.8%) studied influenza H5N1, 19 (28.8%) studied coronaviruses, 5 (7.6 %) studied RSV, and 2 (3.0 %) studied enterovirus. Our findings show that large numbers of studies in Indonesia were primarily conducted in response to viral respiratory disease outbreaks, but with limited epidemiological data. We also identified gaps in information regarding the geographical distribution of viral respiratory disease burden, as studies were more highly concentrated in populated cities, such as Jakarta, Java, and Bali. This review highlights the need for more robust surveillance of ILI and SARI cases throughout Indonesia, as well as allocation of more resources for viral respiratory disease etiology and epidemiological studies.