Eurosurveillance - Volume 7, Issue 5, 01 May 2002

Since 2001, an increase in the number of MRSA strains with heteroresistance to oxacillin has been observed in the Netherlands. These strains can spread unnoticed, as their phenotypic heterogenous resistance to beta-lactams affects the results of susceptibility testing. Therefore, further testing using PBP2a latex agglutination or PCR are recommended.

In the department of Puy-de-Dôme, France, 17 cases of invasive meningococcal disease C were notified between March 2001 and the first week of 2002. Among the 15 confirmed cases, 11 (73%) were serogroup C, 2 (13%) serogroup B, and 2 could not be identified. The rapid increase in the number of cases in a period of low endemicity for the rest of the country and the severity of the disease (case fatality ratio 27%, purpura fulminans 64%) led the health authorities to initiate a vaccination campaign targeting children and young adults from 2 months up to 20 years living in a limited area of the department. Around 80 000 people were immunised between 16/01/02 and 09/02/02. More than half of the 1390 immediate side effects were headache and dizziness. As of mid-March, no further case of meningococcal disease has been notified since 6 January.

The WHO European Region* has been certified "free of poliomyelitis" at a meeting held in Copenhaguen, Denmark, on 21 June 2002. The information was released by the European Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication.

Training in intervention epidemiology and assessment of health risks is a vital element in the network of the InVS partners (state departments, agencies and institutions). Those involved in health surveillance need to have a common culture and consistent intervention patterns in order to optimise the performance of surveillance and response mechanisms. For this reason, the InVS and the École Nationale de la Santé Publique (ENSP, national school of public health) have been involved in establishing a national training programme for several years now.

An international consensus has been reached that a European Union (EU) Technical Coordination Structure (TCS) for communicable diseases is needed to improve Europe’s future response to international communicable disease threats within and beyond its boundaries. After the American events of September 11 2001 and the deliberate releases of anthrax, the EU created a Health Security Committee, adopted a civil protection decision, and established for 18 months a team to develop responses for deliberate releases of biological and chemical agents. These two initiatives, the network’s approach and health security work, must converge into a single stream addressing health protection for the people of Europe. They could be combined into a European Centre for Communicable Diseases that is planned to become active by 2005.