Eurosurveillance - Volume 29, Issue 32, 08 August 2024

Syphilis in blood donors (BD) has increased in many countries.

We aimed to describe trends in syphilis seroposivity in BD in France, to identify risk factors and assess if a non-treponemic test (NTT) could define BD having recovered from syphilis for more than 1 year.

The analysis covered the period 2007 to 2022 and 45,875,939 donations. Of the 474 BD syphilis-positive in 2022, 429 underwent additional investigations with an NTT. History of syphilis was obtained at the post-donation interview or based on serology results for repeat donors.

Until 2021, positivity rates remained stable (mean: 1.18/10,000 donations, range: 1.01–1.38). An increased rate was observed in 2022 (1.74/10,000; p = 0.02). Over the whole study period, prevalence was 2.2 times higher in male than in female BD (4.1 times higher in 2022). The proportion of males with an identified risk factor who have sex with men increased from 16.7% in 2007 to 64.9% in 2022. Based on NTT, 79 (18%) of the donors who were seropositive in 2022 were classified as having been infected in the previous year. History of syphilis was available for 30 of them. All had an infection within the previous 3 years. Among seven donors with a syphilis < 12 months before testing, one had an NTT titre ≥ 8, three a titre between 1 and 4, three were negative.

Syphilis seropositivity increased considerably in BDs in 2022, mostly in males, notably MSM. Available data did not allow appropriate evaluation of the NTT to distinguish recent from past infection.

A new respiratory virus surveillance platform, based on nationwide hospital laboratory data, was established in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We aimed to evaluate the performance of this platform with respect to the detection of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from week 36 in 2020 to week 15 in 2023, and how it fits with the World Health Organization (WHO) mosaic surveillance framework.

Data of respiratory samples from hospitalised patients sent for laboratory confirmation of influenza virus or RSV from 25 general hospital laboratories nationwide were collected. We analysed the weekly number and percentage of samples positive for influenza virus or RSV vis-à-vis SARS-CoV-2 activity and compared data from the new surveillance platform with existing surveillance platforms. Using data in the new surveillance platform, we analysed early stages of a 2021 out-of-season RSV outbreak and evaluated the capabilities of the new surveillance system with respect to objectives and domains of the WHO mosaic framework.

The new hospital-laboratory surveillance platform captured the activity of influenza virus and RSV, provided crucial data when outpatient sentinel surveillance was not operational and supported an out-of-season RSV outbreak investigation. The new surveillance platform fulfilled important objectives in all three domains of the mosaic framework and could serve for gathering additional information to fulfil more domain objectives.

The new hospital laboratory surveillance platform provided essential data during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, fulfilled important domain objectives of the mosaic framework and could be adapted for the surveillance of other viruses.

The Vibrio genus comprises several bacterial species present in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), which are known to cause human infections.

To provide a comprehensive retrospective analysis of Vibrio-induced infections in the BSR from 1994 to 2021, focusing on the ‘big four’ Vibrio species – V. alginolyticus, V. cholerae non-O1/O139, V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus – in eight European countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden) bordering the Baltic Sea.

Our analysis includes data on infections, Vibrio species distribution in coastal waters and environmental data received from national health agencies or extracted from scientific literature and online databases. A redundancy analysis was performed to determine the potential impact of several independent variables, such as sea surface temperature, salinity, the number of designated coastal beaches and year, on the Vibrio infection rate.

For BSR countries conducting surveillance, we observed an exponential increase in total Vibrio infections (n = 1,553) across the region over time. In Sweden and Germany, total numbers of Vibrio spp. and infections caused by V. alginolyticus and V. parahaemolyticus positively correlate with increasing sea surface temperature. Salinity emerged as a critical driver of Vibrio spp. distribution and abundance. Furthermore, our proposed statistical model reveals 12 to 20 unreported cases in Lithuania and Poland, respectively, countries with no surveillance.

There are discrepancies in Vibrio surveillance and monitoring among countries, emphasising the need for comprehensive monitoring programmes of these pathogens to protect human health, particularly in the context of climate change.