Lymphogranuloma venereum in Europe, 2003-2008

E J Savage; M J van de Laar; A Gallay; M van der Sande; O Hamouda; A Sasse; S Hoffmann; M Diez; M J Borrego; C M Lowndes; C Ison; on behalf on the European Surveillance of Sexually Transmitted Infections (ESSTI) network

doi:10.2807/ese.14.48.19428-en

Surveillance and outbreak reports Open Access

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Lymphogranuloma venereum in Europe, 2003-2008
E J Savage¹ , M J van de Laar ² , A Gallay³ , M van der Sande⁴ , O Hamouda⁵ , A Sasse⁶ , S Hoffmann⁷ , M Diez⁸ , M J Borrego⁹ , C M Lowndes¹ , C Ison¹ , on behalf on the European Surveillance of Sexually Transmitted Infections (ESSTI) network¹⁰
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Affiliations: ¹ Health Protection Agency, Centre for Infections, HIV and STI Department, London, United Kingdom ² European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Stockholm, Sweden ³ Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS), Saint-Maurice, France ⁴ Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands ⁵ Robert-Koch Institut (RKI), Berlin, Germany ⁶ Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium ⁷ Statens Serum Institut (SSI) ,Copenhagen, Denmark ⁸ Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain ⁹ Instituto Nacional de Saude Dr Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal ¹⁰ Members of the network are listed at the end of the article

Correspondence:
C Ison
Catherine.ison hpa.org.uk
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Citation style for this article: Savage E J, van de Laar M J, Gallay A, van der Sande M, Hamouda O, Sasse A, Hoffmann S, Diez M, Borrego M J, Lowndes C M, Ison C, on behalf on the European Surveillance of Sexually Transmitted Infections (ESSTI) network. Lymphogranuloma venereum in Europe, 2003-2008. Euro Surveill. 2009;14(48):pii=19428. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.14.48.19428-en Received: 14 Aug 2009

Abstract

Lymphogranuloma venereum, caused by the L serovars of Chlamydia trachomatis, emerged in Europe in 2003 and a series of outbreaks were reported in different countries. The infection presents as a severe proctitis in men who have sex with men, many of whom are co-infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. This paper reviews the number of cases reported over a five year period, from 2003 to 2008, from countries that were part of the European Surveillance of Sexually Transmitted Infections (ESSTI) network. Reports were received from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It appears that after five years the characteristics of the patients infected has overall remained unchanged, although the total number of cases has increased and more countries in Europe have now identified cases of LGV.