Brussels, 13/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 12 October, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control published its third annual epidemiological report, examining developments in 47 transmissible diseases in the European Union. The report, using epidemiological data from 2007 and health threats assessed by the ECDC in 2008, puts the emphasis on disease prevention and the impact of vaccination.
Antimicrobial resistance. In 2007, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), responsible for many infections in hospitals, remained a significant problem all over Europe. Other resistant bacteria (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Enterococcus Faecium) also continued to pose problems. Of greatest concern, however, is the increased resistance in Gram negative bacteria (such as Eschericia Coli) for which effectively no new antibiotic is being developed.
Vaccine-preventable diseases. While, thanks to vaccination, the rate of notification of invasive Haemophilus influenzae disease remained below one per 100,000 and the overall notification rate of invasive meningococcal disease was one per 100,000, measles remained a public health priority with 2,795 confirmed cases, including one fatal case and two cases of encephalitis, in 2007. This is a lower number than in 2006, but only four countries have been measles-free over the last three years.
Respiratory tract infections. The 2007-08 influenza season was characterised by moderate clinical activity with an influenza A(H1N1) circulation peak followed by an influenza B peak. There were only a few A(H3N2) strains isolated. The only important new phenomenon flagged up by the report was the occurrence of the A(H1N1-H247Y) strain resistant to the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
Sexually transmitted diseases. The report says that there was no decrease in the number of reported newly diagnosed HIV cases in 2007, compared with 2006. Chlamydia trachomatis infection (with around 250,000 cases diagnosed in 2007) continued to be the most frequently reported infection, mainly affecting young people between 15 and 24 years of age.
The outbreak of chikungunya fever in Italy in 2007 indicated that the Aedes albopictus mosquito is indeed a vector capable of transmitting the virus efficiently at EU latitudes. In 2007, a total of 637 confirmed Q fever infections were reported from 22 of the EU and EEA/EFTA countries (with 168 cases in the Netherlands and 86 in Slovenia, the two main outbreaks). Five hepatitis A outbreaks were monitored in 2008. An outbreak of Shigella sonnei (a bacterium affecting the intestinal system) affected more than 140 employees in their office cafeteria in Sweden. 85 clusters of legionellosis were recorded in 2008.
The report's conclusions were presented to member states' experts meeting in Uppsala, Sweden on 12-14 October. The report can be downloaded from the ECDC site, http://www.ecdc.europa.eu (O.J./transl.rt)