-
Annual theme 2025: vaccine-preventable diseases in humans — today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities Submit your articles now
-
Diversity and inclusion in research and scholarly publishing Join our seminar at ESCAIDE 2024
-
We acknowledge reviewers for their peer review contribution in several ways
Click for more info
-
Three open-access e-learning resources for peer review to evaluate studies' aims, completeness and diversity.
Enrol here
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 disease to facilitate the implementation of effective prevention and control measures. Impact factor: 9.9. More...
Latest Issue: Volume 29, Issue 44, 31 October 2024 Latest Issue RSS feed
- Rapid communication
-
-
-
A cluster of Mayaro virus infections in a film team returning from Suriname, February 2024
Mayaro virus is endemic to the tropical Americas, where the incidence is currently increasing. Like other viruses of the Semliki Forest virus serocomplex, such as Alphavirus chikungunya, symptomatic infections are typically characterised by an acute febrile disease followed by long-lasting arthralgia. Cases in travellers are rarely reported but may be underdiagnosed. We report on four people who diagnosed with Mayaro fever after working in remote areas of Suriname as members of a film team.
-
-
-
Effectiveness of the autumn 2023 COVID-19 vaccine dose in hospital-based healthcare workers: results of the VEBIS healthcare worker vaccine effectiveness cohort study, seven European countries, season 2023/24
Camelia Savulescu , Albert Prats-Uribe , Kim Brolin , Anneli Uusküla , Colm Bergin , Catherine Fleming , Rita Murri , Viesturs Zvirbulis , Dace Zavadska , Vania Gaio , Corneliu P Popescu , Raluca Hrisca , Maria Cisneros , Miriam Latorre-Millán , Liis Lohur , Jonathan McGrath , Lauren Ferguson , Katleen De Gaetano Donati , Ilze Abolina , Dagne Gravele , Ausenda Machado , Simin-Aysel Florescu , Mihaela Lazar , Pilar Subirats , Laura Clusa Cuesta , Jacklyn Sui , Claire Kenny , Rosaria Santangelo , Dainis Krievins , Elza Anna Barzdina , Camila Valadas Henriques , Alma Gabriela Kosa , Saftica-Mariana Pohrib , Carmen Muñoz-Almagro , Ana Milagro , Sabrina Bacci , Anthony Nardone and VEBIS HCW VE study groupCOVID-19 vaccination recommendations include healthcare workers (HCWs). We measured COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (CVE) of the autumn 2023 dose against laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in a prospective cohort study of 1,305 HCWs from 13 European hospitals. Overall CVE was 22% (95% CI: −17 to 48), 49% (95% CI: −8 to 76) before and −11% (95% CI: −84 to 34) after the start of BA.2.86/JN.1 predominant circulation. Autumn 2023 COVID-19 vaccination led to a moderate-to-low reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection incidence in HCWs. Monitoring of CVE is crucial for COVID-19 prevention.
-
- Top
-
- Surveillance
-
-
-
Integrating indicator-based and event-based surveillance data for risk mapping of West Nile virus, Europe, 2006 to 2021
BackgroundWest Nile virus (WNV) has an enzootic cycle between birds and mosquitoes, humans being incidental dead-end hosts. Circulation of WNV is an increasing public health threat in Europe. While detection of WNV is notifiable in humans and animals in the European Union, surveillance based on human case numbers presents some limitations, including reporting delays.
AimWe aimed to perform risk mapping of WNV circulation leading to human infections in Europe by integrating two types of surveillance systems: indicator-based and event-based surveillance.
MethodsFor indicator-based surveillance, we used data on human case numbers reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and for event-based data, we retrieved information from news articles collected through an automated biosurveillance platform. In addition to these data sources, we also used environmental data to train ecological niche models to map the risk of local WNV circulation leading to human infections.
ResultsThe ecological niche models based on both types of surveillance data highlighted new areas potentially at risk of WNV infection in humans, particularly in Spain, Italy, France and Greece.
ConclusionAlthough event-based surveillance data do not constitute confirmed occurrence records, integrating both indicator-based and event-based surveillance data proved useful. These results underscore the potential for a more proactive and comprehensive strategy in managing the threat of WNV in Europe by combining indicator- and event-based and environmental data for effective surveillance and public health response.
-
- Top
-
- Research
-
-
-
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 virus exposure in domestic cats and rural stray cats, the Netherlands, October 2020 to June 2023
BackgroundHighly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5Nx and human H1N1pdm2009 influenza viruses can infect cats. Infections in cats may result in viral adaptations or recombinant viruses, which may facilitate zoonotic transfer.
AimWe aimed to investigate the presence of HPAI H5 clade 2.3.4.4 and H1 influenza viruses and antibodies to these viruses in domestic and rural stray cats in the Netherlands and factors associated with exposure.
MethodsSera from stray and domestic cats, sampled 2020–2023, were analysed by ELISA and confirmed by hemagglutination inhibition assay (HAI) and pharyngeal swabs and lung tissue for influenza A virus by RT-qPCR.
ResultsIn 701 stray cats, 83 (11.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 9.5–14.5) sera were positive for HPAI H5 and 65 findings were confirmed. In HAI, two sera were positive for both HPAI H5 and H1. In 871 domestic cats, four (0.46%; 95% CI: 0.13–1.2) sera were HPAI H5 positive and none were confirmed but 40 (4.6%; 95% CI: 3.3–6.2) sera were seropositive for H1 and 26 were confirmed. Stray cats living in nature reserves (odds ratio (OR) = 5.4; 95% CI: 1.5–20.1) and older cats (OR = 3.8; 95% CI: 2.7–7.1) were more likely to be HPAI H5 seropositive. No influenza A virus was detected in 230 cats.
ConclusionThe higher HPAI H5 seroprevalence in stray cats compared with domestic cats suggests more frequent viral exposure, most likely due to foraging on wild birds. In contrast, exposure to H1 was more common in domestic cats compared with stray cats.
-
-
-
Enhanced echovirus 11 genomic surveillance in neonatal infections in Spain following a European alert reveals new recombinant forms linked to severe cases, 2019 to 2023
Maria Dolores Fernandez-Garcia , Nerea Garcia-Ibañez , Juan Camacho , Almudena Gutierrez , Laura Sánchez García , Cristina Calvo , Antonio Moreno-Docón , Ana Isabel Menasalvas , Antonio Medina , Mercedes Perez-Ruiz , Maria Carmen Nieto Toboso , Carmen Muñoz-Almagro , Cristian Launes , Carla Berengua , María Cabrerizo and the Spanish study group for Enterovirus and Parechovirus infections (PI22CIII-00035)BackgroundIn 2023, a European alert was issued regarding an increase in severe enterovirus (EV) neonatal infections associated with echovirus 11 (E11) new lineage 1.
AimTo analyse E11-positive cases between 2019 and 2023 to investigate whether the new lineage 1 circulated in Spain causing severe neonatal infections.
MethodsEV-positive samples from hospitalised cases are sent for typing to the National Reference Enterovirus Laboratory. Available samples from 2022–23 were subjected to metagenomic next-generation sequencing.
ResultsOf 1,288 samples genotyped, 103 were E11-positive (98 patients: 6 adults, 33 neonates, 89 children under 6 years; male to female ratio 1.9). E11 detection rate was similar before and after detection of the new lineage 1 in Spain in June 2022 (9.7% in 2019 vs 10.6% in 2023). The proportion of E11-infected ICU-admitted neonates in 2019–2022 (2/7) vs 2022–2023 (5/12) did not significantly differ (p = 0.65). In severe neonatal infections, 4/7 E11 strains were not linked to the new lineage 1. The three novel E11 recombinant genomes were associated with severe (n = 2) and non-severe (n = 1) cases from 2022–2023 and clustered outside the new lineage 1. Coinfecting pathogenic viruses were present in four of 10 E11-positive samples.
ConclusionThe emergence of the new lineage 1 is not linked with an increase in incidence or severity of neonatal E11 infections in Spain. The detection of two novel E11 recombinants associated with severe disease warrants enhancing genomic and clinical surveillance.
-
-