Eurosurveillance - Volume 16, Issue 42, 20 October 2011

Between May and September 2011, twenty cases of Plasmodium vivax infection were reported in Greek citizens without reported travel history. The vast majority of those cases were confined to a delimited agricultural area of Evrotas, Lakonia. Conditions favouring locally acquired transmission of malaria, including the presence of competent vectors and migrants from endemic countries exist in Greece, underscoring the need for the development of an integrated preparedness and response plan for malaria prevention.

Since the beginning of August 2011, an outbreak of hepatitis A has been detected in Estonia. The majority of laboratory-confirmed cases (n=66) were notified between 4 August and 3 October 2011 and were linked to Viljandi county. The outbreak is still ongoing.

In July 2011, a Vibrio alginolyticus infection was diagnosed in a woman from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, British Isles after sea bathing and application of a natural seaweed dressing to a pre-existing leg wound. Microbiological investigation confirmed Vibrio in the wound and the species of seaweed used for the dressing. The washing of open wounds in seawater and use of unsterilised seaweed dressings should be discouraged, particularly in individuals with underlying risk conditions.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial susceptibility is monitored in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) by the European gonococcal antimicrobial surveillance programme (Euro-GASP). Results from 17 EU/EEA Member States in 2009 showed that 5% of isolates had decreased susceptibility to cefixime, an upward trend in the minimum inhibitory concentrations of ceftriaxone and a high prevalence of resistance to ciprofloxacin (63%) and azithromycin (13%). These results are of public health value and highlight the need for healthcare professionals to be aware of possible cefixime treatment failures. Euro-GASP is being implemented in additional EU/EEA Member States to achieve greater representativeness. In addition, Euro-GASP aims to set up a system which will allow biannual reporting of antimicrobial resistance in the EU/EEA, with a transition from centralised towards decentralised testing, and will link epidemiological data to laboratory data to enhance surveillance. The benefits of this approach include more timely detection of emerging trends in gonococcal resistance across the EU/EEA and the provision of a robust evidence base for informing national and European guidelines for therapy.