http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ Eurosurveillance: peer-reviewed european information on communicable disease surveillance and control eng Copyright: http://www.eurosurveillance.org http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss/ Eurosurveillance news RSS generator visit: http://www.eurosurveillance.org visit: http://www.eurosurveillance.org http://www.eurosurveillance.org/images/header_logo.png http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ 1 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19078 Malaria incidence is reportedly declining steadily in many parts of the world, including in at least several African countries. The incidence of imported malaria is also declining in a number of European countries. However, incidence rates in travellers, both European tourists and the so called VFR (visiting friends and relatives) are difficult to estimate, due to problems with the numerator (many cases are not reported) and more importantly with the denominator, for which the information is generally lacking. An exception in the European Union is the United Kingdom (UK), where the International Passenger Survey provides a reliable denominator on the number of travellers to the different countries, duration of stay and reason for travel. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19078 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19072 A 4.5 months old, previously healthy Danish girl was admitted to a paediatric department after six days of passive behaviour and weak suck. Over the next days she became increasingly weak, developed bilateral ptosis, the muscle stretch reflexes were lost, and mydriasis with slow pupillary responses was noted. Botulism was suspected and confirmed by testing of patient serum in a bioassay. The condition of the patient improved following administration of botulism antiserum. The clinical picture was suggestive of intestinal (infant) botulism. However, botulism acquired from consumption of food with preformed neurotoxin could not be excluded. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19072 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19068 Twelve Finnish tourists contracted falciparum malaria from Gambia in the period between 3 and 27 November 2008. None of them had used adequate malaria chemoprophylaxis. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19068 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19077 A cluster of 56 patients returning from Gambia with falciparum malaria has been noted in several countries of the European Union since September this year. TropNetEurop, the European Network on Imported Infectious Disease Surveillance, collected and reported the cases. Lack of awareness and, consequently, of prophylactic measures against malaria were apparent in the majority of patients. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19077 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19076 The patient is believed to have acquired the infection from making animal hide drums. Environmental investigations identified one drum and two pieces of animal skins contaminated with anthrax spores. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19076 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19071 In September 2008, 21 cases of cryptosporidiosis occurred among guests and staff at a wedding reception in a hotel restaurant in Stockholm county, Sweden. The most probable source of the outbreak was béarnaise sauce containing chopped fresh parsley. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19071 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19069 In this report, we describe the investigation and management of an outbreak of TB associated with a mosque in Scotland, and consider the implications of large-scale TB contact tracing. The screening of casual contacts in this setting was complex and time-consuming with a low detection rate. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19069 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19070 An outbreak of acute gastroenteritis occurred in a nursing home for elderly in Majorca between 4 and 23 February 2008. To know its aetiology and mechanism of transmission a retrospective cohort study was conducted with a fixed cohort including 146 people (96 residents and 50 employees). The data were collected from clinical histories and through a survey by questionnaire. In total 71 cases were identified (53 residents, 18 employees), corresponding to an overall attack rate (AR) of 48.6%. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19070 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19074 For several years, the Health Protection Agency on behalf of Department of Health has undertaken routine annual uptake monitoring of the seasonal influenza vaccination programme in England in order to provide an annual estimate of uptake in targeted groups. In 2007-8, 95% of 8,375 GP practices in England took part in data collection. The national mean uptake in those 65 years and above in England was 74%, approaching the WHO target of 75%. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19074 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19075 At a closer look, our coverage results for this age group and those reported by the HPA are quite similar for 2003-4 (70% vs. 71%, respectively) and 2005-6 (78% vs. 75%, respectively) while our coverage results for 2004-5 and 2006-7 are indeed substantially lower. Given confidence interval widths, as shown in Figure 2 of our report, chance alone does not appear to be a likely explanation for this discrepancy. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19075 http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19073 Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19073