Eurosurveillance - Volume 19, Issue 22, 05 June 2014

A 12 year-old boy in Germany developed urinary schistosomiasis in January 2014. He had bathed in rivers in south-eastern Corsica five months earlier. Before this case, human schistomiasis had not been reported on the island, although its vector, the snail Bulinus truncatus, locally transmitted the zoonotic Schistosoma bovis. The boy's father excreted S. haematobium ova that were not viable; the boy's three siblings had a positive serology against schistosomes. .

As part of the introduction and roll-out of a universal childhood live-attenuated influenza vaccination programme, 4-11 year-olds were vaccinated in seven pilot areas in England in the 2013/14 influenza season. This paper presents the uptake and impact of the programme for a range of disease indicators. End-of-season uptake was defined as the number of children in the target population who received at least one dose of influenza vaccine. Between week 40 2013 and week 15 2014, cumulative disease incidence per 100,000 population (general practitioner consultations for influenza-like illness and laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalisations), cumulative influenza swab positivity in primary and secondary care and cumulative proportion of emergency department respiratory attendances were calculated. Indicators were compared overall and by age group between pilot and non-pilot areas. Direct impact was defined as reduction in cumulative incidence based on residence in pilot relative to non-pilot areas in 4-11 year-olds. Indirect impact was reduction between pilot and non-pilot areas in <4 year-olds and >11 year-olds. Overall vaccine uptake of 52.5% (104,792/199,475) was achieved. Although influenza activity was low, a consistent, though not statistically significant, decrease in cumulative disease incidence and influenza positivity across different indicators was seen in pilot relative to non-pilot areas in both targeted and non-targeted age groups, except in older age groups, where no difference was observed for secondary care indicators. .

Non-toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae have become increasingly recognised as emerging pathogens across Europe causing severe invasive disease. A subset of non-toxigenic C. diphtheriae are 'non-toxigenic tox gene-bearing' (NTTB) strains; these strains are genotypically toxpositive, but do not express the protein. The circulation of NTTB strains was first observed during the 1990s upsurge of diphtheria in Eastern Europe but has not been reported in other European countries. Circulation of NTTB strains could be considered an increased risk for diphtheria and other related diseases, given their possible role as a tox gene reservoir with the theoretical risk of re-emerging toxin expression. Here we report the characterisation of 108 non-toxigenic C. diphtheriae biovar mitis isolates submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Reference Centre for Diphtheria at Public Health England, London, between 2003 and 2012, in order to determine the presence of NTTB strains. Using molecular methods, five NTTB isolates were identified; four human isolates (MLST type 212) and one isolate from a companion cat (MLST type 40). The emergence of these strains could indicate continuation of the circulation of potentially toxigenic strains and appropriate laboratory diagnostic methods should be used for detection. Given the complacency that currently exists in Europe awareness with regards to diphtheria diagnostics must be enhanced. .