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- Volume 23, Issue 35, 30/Aug/2018
Eurosurveillance - Volume 23, Issue 35, 30 August 2018
Volume 23, Issue 35, 2018
- Rapid communication
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Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in a Greek worker returning from Bulgaria, June 2018
We report a tick-borne case of severe Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) imported into Greece from Bulgaria. The patient presented severe thrombocytopenia, hemophagocytosis, haemodynamic instability, large haematomas and altered mental status. Supportive treatment and ribavirin were administered. Symptoms started one day after the tick was removed; the patient was discharged from the hospital 26 days after symptom onset. No secondary cases were observed. Phylogenetically the CCHF virus strain belongs to clade Europe 1.
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- Surveillance and outbreak report
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Outbreak of multiple strains of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli associated with rocket salad, Finland, autumn 2016
In August 2016, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) with 237 cases occurred in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. Gastroenteritis cases were reported at 11 events served by one catering company. Microbiological and epidemiological investigations suggested rocket salad as the cause of the outbreak. STEC ONT:H11 and EPEC O111:H8 strains isolated from food samples containing rocket were identical to the patient isolates. In this outbreak, the reported symptoms were milder than considered before for STEC infection, and the guidelines for STEC control measures need to be updated based on the severity of the illness. Based on our experience in this outbreak, national surveillance criteria for STEC have been updated to meet the practice in reporting laboratories covering both PCR-positive and culture-confirmed findings. We suggest that EPEC could be added to the national surveillance since diagnostics for EPEC are routinely done in clinical laboratories.
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- Research article
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Current hepatitis E virus seroprevalence in Swiss blood donors and apparent decline from 1997 to 2016
Background and aimHepatitis E virus (HEV) is a virus of emerging importance to transfusion medicine. Studies from several European countries, including Switzerland, have reported high seroprevalence of hepatitis E as a consequence of endemic infections. Published HEV seroprevalence estimates within developed countries vary considerably; primarily due to improved diagnostic assays. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG in Swiss blood donations. Methods: We used the highly sensitive Wantai HEV IgG EIA and assessed regional distribution patterns. We analysed age- and sex-matched archive plasma dating back 20 years from canton Bern to investigate recent changes in HEV seroprevalence levels. Results: On average, 20.4% (95% confidence intervals: 19.1–21.8) of the 3,609 blood samples collected in 2014–16 were anti-HEV IgG positive; however, distinct differences between geographical regions were observed (range: 12.8–33.6%). Seroprevalence increased with age with 30.7% of males and 34.3% of women being positive donors over > 60 years old. Differences between sexes may be attributed to dissimilarities in the average age of this group. Within the specified region of the Bern canton, overall prevalence has declined over two decades from 30.3% in 1997/98 to 27.0% in 2006 and 22.3% in 2015/6. Conclusions: HEV seroprevalence in Switzerland is high, but has declined over the last decades. The result shows that primarily endemic HEV infections occur and that current blood products may pose a risk to vulnerable transfusion recipients. Nucleic acid screening of all blood products for HEV will begin in November 2018.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 29 (2024)
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Volume 28 (2023)
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Volume 27 (2022)
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Volume 26 (2021)
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Volume 25 (2020)
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Volume 24 (2019)
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Volume 23 (2018)
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Volume 22 (2017)
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Volume 21 (2016)
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Volume 20 (2015)
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Volume 19 (2014)
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Volume 18 (2013)
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Volume 17 (2012)
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Volume 16 (2011)
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Volume 15 (2010)
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Volume 14 (2009)
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Volume 13 (2008)
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Volume 12 (2007)
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Volume 11 (2006)
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Volume 10 (2005)
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Volume 9 (2004)
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Volume 8 (2003)
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Volume 7 (2002)
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Volume 6 (2001)
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Volume 5 (2000)
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Volume 4 (1999)
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Volume 3 (1998)
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Volume 2 (1997)
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Volume 1 (1996)
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Volume 0 (1995)
Most Read This Month
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Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by real-time RT-PCR
Victor M Corman , Olfert Landt , Marco Kaiser , Richard Molenkamp , Adam Meijer , Daniel KW Chu , Tobias Bleicker , Sebastian Brünink , Julia Schneider , Marie Luisa Schmidt , Daphne GJC Mulders , Bart L Haagmans , Bas van der Veer , Sharon van den Brink , Lisa Wijsman , Gabriel Goderski , Jean-Louis Romette , Joanna Ellis , Maria Zambon , Malik Peiris , Herman Goossens , Chantal Reusken , Marion PG Koopmans and Christian Drosten
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