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Eurosurveillance
Since 1995, Eurosurveillance has provided the European public health community with an open-access platform to exchange relevant findings on communicable disease surveillance, prevention and control. A weekly, electronic, peer-reviewed publication, Eurosurveillance aims to provide timely facts and guidance for public health professionals and decision-makers in the field of infectious diseases to facilitate the implementation of effective prevention and control measures. Impact factor: 7.1. More...
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Emergence of divergent enterovirus (EV) D68 sub-clade D1 strains, northern Italy, September to October 2018
Between September and October 2018, an enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) outbreak occurred in patients hospitalised with severe acute respiratory infection in northern Italy; 21 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 16/20 of the EV-D68 sequences belonged to a divergent group within the sub-clade D1. Since its upsurge, EV-D68 has undergone rapid evolution with the emergence of new viral variants, emphasising the need for molecular surveillance that include outpatients with respiratory illness.
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- Review
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Multidisciplinary, evidence-based consensus guidelines for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in high-risk populations, Spain, 2016
Introduction: Although human papillomavirus (HPV) routine vaccination programmes have been implemented around the world and recommendations have been expanded to include other high-risk individuals, current recommendations often differ between countries in Europe, as well as worldwide.
Aim: To find and summarise the best available evidence of HPV vaccination in high-risk patients aiding clinicians and public health workers in the day-to-day vaccine decisions relating to HPV in Spain.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the immunogenicity, safety and efficacy/effectiveness of HPV vaccination in high-risk populations between January 2006 and June 2016. HPV vaccination recommendations were established with levels of evidence according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.
Results: A strong recommendation about HPV vaccination was made in the following groups: HIV infected patients aged 9–26 years; men who have sex with men aged 9–26 years; women with precancerous cervical lesions; patients with congenital bone marrow failure syndrome; women who have received a solid organ transplant or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation aged 9–26 years; and patients diagnosed with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.
Conclusions: Data concerning non-routine HPV vaccination in populations with a high risk of HPV infection and associated lesions were scarce. We have developed a document to evaluate and establish evidence-based guidelines on HPV vaccination in high-risk populations in Spain, based on best available scientific evidence.
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- Research
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Molecular epidemiology of an enterovirus A71 outbreak associated with severe neurological disease, Spain, 2016
Rubén González-Sanz, Didac Casas-Alba, Cristian Launes, Carmen Muñoz-Almagro, María Montserrat Ruiz-García, Mercedes Alonso, María José González-Abad, Gregoria Megías, Nuria Rabella, Margarita del Cuerpo, Mónica Gozalo-Margüello, Alejandro González-Praetorius, Ana Martínez-Sapiña, María José Goyanes-Galán, María Pilar Romero, Cristina Calvo, Andrés Antón, Manuel Imaz, Maitane Aranzamendi, Águeda Hernández-Rodríguez, Antonio Moreno-Docón, Sonia Rey-Cao, Ana Navascués, Almudena Otero and María CabrerizoIntroductionEnterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is an emerging pathogen that causes a wide range of disorders including severe neurological manifestations. In the past 20 years, this virus has been associated with large outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease with neurological complications in the Asia-Pacific region, while in Europe mainly sporadic cases have been reported. In spring 2016, however, an EV-A71 outbreak associated with severe neurological cases was reported in Catalonia and spread further to other Spanish regions.
AimOur objective was to investigate the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of the outbreak.
MethodsWe carried out a retrospective study which included 233 EV-A71-positive samples collected during 2016 from hospitalised patients. We analysed the clinical manifestations associated with EV-A71 infections and performed phylogenetic analyses of the 3’-VP1 and 3Dpol regions from all Spanish strains and a set of EV-A71 from other countries.
ResultsMost EV-A71 infections were reported in children (mean age: 2.6 years) and the highest incidence was between May and July 2016 (83%). Most isolates (218/233) were classified as subgenogroup C1 and 217 of them were grouped in one cluster phylogenetically related to a new recombinant variant strain associated with severe neurological diseases in Germany and France in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, we found a clear association of EV-A71-C1 infection with severe neurological disorders, brainstem encephalitis being the most commonly reported.
ConclusionAn emerging recombinant variant of EV-A71-C1 was responsible for the large outbreak in 2016 in Spain that was associated with many severe neurological cases.
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Cost-effectiveness and budget effect of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV-1 prevention in Germany from 2018 to 2058
BackgroundPre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention strategy for men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). The high cost of PrEP has until recently been a primary barrier to its use. In 2017, generic PrEP became available, reducing the costs by 90%.
AimOur objective was to assess cost-effectiveness and costs of introducing PrEP in Germany.
MethodsWe calibrated a deterministic mathematical model to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among MSM in Germany. PrEP was targeted to 30% of high-risk MSM. It was assumed that PrEP reduces the risk of HIV infection by 85%. Costs were calculated from a healthcare payer perspective using a 40-year time horizon starting in 2018.
ResultsPrEP can avert 21,000 infections (interquartile range (IQR): 16,000–27,000) in the short run (after 2 years scale-up and 10 years full implementation). HIV care is predicted to cost EUR 36.2 billion (IQR: 32.4–40.4 billion) over the coming 40 years. PrEP can increase costs by at most EUR 150 million within the first decade after introduction. Ten years after introduction, PrEP can become cost-saving, accumulating to savings of HIV-related costs of EUR 5.1 billion (IQR: 3.5–6.9 billion) after 40 years. In a sensitivity analysis, PrEP remained cost-saving even at a 70% price reduction of antiretroviral drug treatment and a lower effectiveness of PrEP.
ConclusionIntroduction of PrEP in Germany is predicted to result in substantial health benefits because of reductions in HIV infections. Short-term financial investments in providing PrEP will result in substantial cost-savings in the long term.
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Pertactin-deficient Bordetella pertussis isolates: evidence of increased circulation in Europe, 1998 to 2015
IntroductionPertussis outbreaks have occurred in several industrialised countries using acellular pertussis vaccines (ACVs) since the 1990s. High prevalence of pertactin (PRN)-deficient Bordetella pertussis isolates has been found in these countries.
AimsTo evaluate in Europe: (i) whether proportions of PRN-deficient strains increased in consecutive collections of B. pertussis clinical isolates; (ii) if the frequency of PRN-deficient strains in countries correlated with the time since ACV introduction; (iii) the presence of pertussis toxin (PT)-, filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA)- or fimbriae (Fim)-deficient isolates.
MethodsB. pertussis clinical isolates were obtained from different European countries during four periods (EUpert I–IV studies): 1998 to 2001 (n = 102), 2004 to 2005 (n = 154), 2007 to 2009 (n = 140) and 2012 to 2015 (n = 265). The isolates’ selection criteria remained unchanged in all periods. PRN, PT, FHA and Fim2 and Fim3 expression were assessed by ELISA.
ResultsIn each period 1.0% (1/102), 1.9% (3/154), 6.4% (9/140) and 24.9% (66/265) of isolates were PRN-deficient. In EUpert IV, PRN-deficient isolates occurred in all countries sampled and in six countries their frequency was higher than in EUpert III (for Sweden and the United Kingdom, p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0155, respectively). Sweden and Italy which used ACVs since the mid 1990s had the highest frequencies (69%; 20/29 and 55%; 11/20, respectively) while Finland, where primary immunisations with ACV containing PRN dated from 2009 had the lowest (3.6%). Throughout the study, no PT- or FHA-deficient isolate and one Fim2/3-deficient was detected.
ConclusionResults suggest that the longer the period since the introduction of ACVs containing PRN, the higher the frequency of circulating PRN-deficient isolates.
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Recent articles
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Genetic and antigenic characterisation of influenza A(H3N2) viruses isolated in Yokohama during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons
Chiharu Kawakami, Seiya Yamayoshi, Miki Akimoto, Kazuya Nakamura, Hideka Miura, Seiichiro Fujisaki, David J. Pattinson, Kohei Shimizu, Hiroki Ozawa, Tomoko Momoki, Miwako Saikusa, Atsuhiro Yasuhara, Shuzo Usuku, Ichiro Okubo, Takahiro Toyozawa, Shigeo Sugita, Derek J. Smith, Shinji Watanabe and Yoshihiro Kawaoka
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Laboratory management of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus infections: perspectives from two European networks
Barbara Bartolini, Cesare EM Gruber, Marion Koopmans, Tatjana Avšič, Sylvia Bino, Iva Christova, Roland Grunow, Roger Hewson, Gulay Korukluoglu, Cinthia Menel Lemos, Ali Mirazimi, Anna Papa, Maria Paz Sanchez-Seco, Aisha V. Sauer, Hervè Zeller, Carla Nisii, Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Giuseppe Ippolito, Chantal B. Reusken and Antonino Di Caro
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Cocirculation of Hajj and non-Hajj strains among serogroup W meningococci in Italy, 2000 to 2016
Cecilia Fazio, Arianna Neri, Paola Vacca, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Milena Arghittu, Anna Maria Barbui, Caterina Vocale, Paola Bernaschi, Patrizia Isola, Irene Alessandra Galanti, Antonella Mencacci, Rosella De Nittis, Maria Chironna, Anna Giammanco, Elisabetta Pagani, Alessandro Bisbano and Paola Stefanelli
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