The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) is a platform that collects standardized data from hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory illnesses across countries, including low-, middle-, and high-income countries from both hemispheres. 30 sites and 150 hospitals in 25 countries are participating in the GIHSN for the influenza season 2024-2025.
The GIHSN has evolved over the last 12 years to focus on linking epidemiologic and clinical data with Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) information to facilitate exploring viral phenotypes as they relate to severity or vaccine breakthrough cases. This information is shared with local public health authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the scientific community at large.
The GIHSN is the largest network of its kind and is currently scaling up. A Memorandum of Understanding with WHO was established in 2023 to strengthen collaboration with GISRS.
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The GIHSN is supported by a dedicated fund, The Foundation for Influenza Epidemiology, under the Fondation de France umbrella. Foundation provides catalytic funding complementary to national and other sources of funding.
Not-for-profit institutions with proposals aligned with the GIHSN mission are eligible to apply for partial funding through an annual Call for proposals (next call to be launched in May 2025 for the 2025-2026 season).
The GIHSN platform is operated by Impact Healthcare, an independent organization based in Paris, France.
