Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 6, Issue 6, 07 February 2002

A meeting of influenza experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva this week has considered the recent isolation of a new subtype of the influenza A virus, A(H1N2) (1). The meeting was held to review the global influenza situation and decide the composition for the influenza vaccine for the northern hemisphere for winter 2002/03, and was based on information from the WHO global influenza surveillance programme and the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) surveillance of influenza in England and Wales.

The new subtype of the influenza A virus, A(H1N2), is a combination of components present in the strains of the two influenza A subtypes (H1N1 and H3N2) currently contained in the vaccine, and so people who have received the vaccine should have a good level of immunity to the new subtype. People in the general population who have not been vaccinated should also have some immunity due to the circulation of the H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes over the last two decades.

The first case of variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD) has been reported in Italy (1). The case from Sicily was diagnosed in Italy and Great Britain on the basis of clinical and instrumental tests and tonsillar biopsy. The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) has classified the case as probable, but since the patient is still alive, the ISS has not released any additional information. The surveillance and reporting of CJD has been mandatory in Italy since the beginning of 2002.

Since the introduction of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, measles has occurred in Denmark only rarely, and the most recent outbreak occurred in 1998 (1). At the end of December 2001, however, an outbreak began in the county of North Jutland, where the index case, a 9 year old Danish child, was admitted to hospital.

In December 2001, Eurosurveillance Weekly reported on the approval by the European Parliament of the creation of an independent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (1). On 21 January 2002, the EFSA became a reality when the Council of Ministers adopted the key legislation that provides the legal basis for establishing the EFSA and general principles and requirements for European Union (EU) food law (2).

The European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS (EuroHIV programme – http://www.eurohiv.org/) has published its latest half-yearly surveillance report (1). The report contains information on cases of AIDS and newly diagnosed HIV infections reported by 30 June 2001 in the 51 countries of the World Health Organization’s European Region, together with data on HIV prevalence among injecting drug users (IDUs) in 20 countries for 1996-2000. For the purposes of this report, the 51 countries have been grouped into three areas – the West, the Centre, and the East – and most data are presented and discussed in this context.